Drums Of The City Rain
Chapter 7
TW// slight mention of eating disorder, calories and weight
I woke up at about 9am, although irritated by the bright white wave of sunlight streaming in through the window I felt pretty good. My brother was still curled up in my arms, fast asleep. I doubt he had slept before he came in to see me, poor kid so I left him to it. After daydreaming for a while, coffee called so gently I pulled my arm out from underneath him and slipped out from under the covers, making sure to tuck him back in. I crept downstairs, I could hear my parents snoring, they’d probably stayed up late, hopefully not late enough to have heard the events of that night. Putting the kettle on my thoughts began wandering, I was serious about this running away idea and for the hundredth time mentally planned it. What: running away. Why: abusive parents. When: Once Mikey reached 110lbs. How: …um? Me and Mikey were ‘homeschooled’ (by that I mean being trapped inside, never socialising, with no friends, getting no education whatsoever) so no one would really notice us missing, it’s not like our parents gave a damn. We had this person who come round every few months to check our progress, most time’s it was none but somehow we got away with it. The education system didn’t seem to give a damn either. I had my exams coming up, we had had a meeting about it a few months ago, I had to go into this college place on certain dates and sit and do a few papers, I was dreading it and really didn’t see the point. I was worried these would clash with our escape but I didn’t think about it that much I mean I’d just get a ‘did not turn up’ mark or something and it’s not like anyone would look into why. The second Mikey was well enough we would be out of there no ifs or buts.
I had this friend, Ray, who was about a year older than me and lived in a flat with 3 or 4 other people the same age. We were lucky to have met, about 4months ago I won some money on a scratchcard. Okay, not loads. £50. But it was enough to buy a ticket to see fall out boy live. I had never been to a concert before and knew my parents wouldn’t allow it (hypocritical much) so while they were out getting shitfaced I snuck away without telling anyone. It was the biggest thrill of my life to be honest but I was kinda worried because I was completely alone and had no idea what I was doing. I managed to get the right train and tube and got there pretty early. To my disappointment I didn’t quite make the barrier but I was only 2 or 3 people from it and if I positioned my head in a certain way I got a pretty clear view of the stage, that was if the guy in front of me’s goddamn afro stayed out the way. When fall out boy stepped on stage my heart stopped, I couldn’t see most of the band but to my delight Pete positioned himself right in the small section of stage visible between people’s heads. For about 30secs I watched him avidly in stunned silence but when ‘the phoenix’s guitars kicked in the place erupted and it felt absolutely amazing. I sang until my lungs gave out and danced danced (and I fell apart to half time) and the feeling it gave me couldn’t even be ruined by inappropriately large hair blocking my view. This was until I felt myself sweating and going dizzy and I couldn’t stay upright any longer. Darkness engulfed me and I woke up at the side of the room with the owner of the afro looking at me concerned. He explained I’d passed out and security had fished me out the crowd but when he realised I was there alone he couldn’t have me waking up confused in a loud hot room with no one around to look out for me. I was astonished by his kindness and we watched the rest of the gig together from the side. He told me his name was Ray Toro and after the show finished we went back to his place. I met his flatmates, I forgot their names but I remember a blonde dude who was frankly a bit of an arsehole, a short punky kid and I think a couple of girls, though they may have just come home with the arsehole. I hadn’t seen Ray in real life since, but we kept in touch over text, messaging everyday when I had credit. We learned a lot about eachother and I think he was kinda beginning to tell my situation so I hoped if I spoke to him he’d let me stay with him. I wasn’t sure if I should speak to Mikey first or Ray. I mean my brother deserved to know my plans but at the same time I didn’t really have any plans made at all.
I pulled out my phone, I had no credit but remembered this thing I’d used before where you text a phone number to a certain number and they send them a text saying something along the lines of ‘This person has no credit but if you could give them a call they’d appreciate it’. I typed out Ray’s number in a message, I had it memorised, put “30303”as the recipient and hit send. A few moments later my phone beeped and I almost spilt my coffee. I opened the text and was disappointed to see it just read ‘Vodafone: Your buzz back message has been sent!’. Still at least I knew Ray had got it.
***
Mikey woke up at about midday and he seemed in a surprisingly good mood. I kept reminding him I was there for him, I don’t know why, just each time I said it it never seemed like enough but I managed to get him to eat a sandwich, 352 whole calories! I doubted he’d eat much else but he didn’t seem to think twice when he ate.
We sat on the bed drawing, I was really proud of how Mikey’s drawing skills progressed in just a few weeks. He was sat cross legged sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration, working on a character he’d made up himself. From what I could tell they had the same stripe across their eyes as the one I’d painted on him the other week and had these rocket powered knee high boots that gave them the ability to fly. I was drawing a character myself, he was based off of Mikey and he was called “Kobra Kid”. He played karate and although he looked kinda awkward he was stonger than anyone around and one kick from him had the potential to kill.
“Down, Down, In an earlier round, sugar we’re going down swinging!” my phone blared out of nowhere. I grabbed it knowing it was Ray, I had set a custom ringtone for him dedicated to the night we met. Not that it’d make much difference, he was the only one who ever called me.
“I just gotta take this” I gabbled to my brother who nodded looking confused. “Hello” I mumbled as I answered the phone rushing downstairs. My parents were awake but in their room so I made sure I was out of earshot.
“Gerard!” Ray exclaimed “We’ve not spoken in ages!”
“Yeah, sorry, I had no credit” I apologised.
“Don’t worry, you okay?” He asked, I could detect the concern in his voice.
“Yeah um” I paused trying to think of how to phrase what I wanted to say. “Are you still living in that flat with the others?”
“Yeah, well Jamia and Bob have moved out now, why?” He replied, puzzled. I smiled, maybe that meant there was space for Mikey and I.
“Well um I was th-thinking, um I- I” I stammered struggling to find words.
“Is everything okay gee?” He asked, worriedly.
“Um, kinda, well no not really” I mumbled.
“Oh god, whats up?” He questioned.
“Well my p-parents are kinda arseholes, they’re pretty a-angry and it’s hurting my brother” I stuttered.
“So are they abusive?” He asked, surpisingly firmly.
“Um yea” I replied.
“I thought so- oh so that’s why you were asking about the flat? Gee, you are welcome here anytime okay there’s a room free now, perfect timing! Hey, you’re coming to live here! And you’re brother too. You can come round tomorrow if you want, I want you out of that place asap” He gabbled. I smiled, he was so caring.
“Thank you but I can’t not yet” I murmured.
“What? Why?” he exclaimed verging on angry. I was amazed by how passionately he cared for me, we’d only seen eachother once.
“It’s Mikey” I mumbled, feeling tears prick my eyes.
“Oh god, what’s wrong?” he gasped.
“He’s kinda um i-ill not like p-physically well yeah physically h-he has an um he’s a-anorexic” I replied my voice breaking. “He is really u-underweight like dangerously. I found a bunch of um stuff in his d-drawer. He’s been self h-harming. And m-making himself s-sick. And using l-laxatives. He’s only 9-95lbs and only h-has like 300 c-calories a day. It’s this environment. It’s our parents, they’re k-killing him. They’re so c-cruel to him. I n-need to get him out of h-here but I n-need to get him better first, it w-wouldn’t be safe to r-run when he’s like th-this” I practically wailed. It felt so odd saying all this aloud, and it hurt more than I expected.
“I don’t know what to say” Ray murmured surprisingly negatively “My step sister had anorexia, I don’t know what happened to her, our parents split and I didn’t see her again, it’s a cruel disease.”
“I know” I sighed.
“It’ll be okay though. How do you plan on getting him better?” He asked changing his tone.
“I think I’m just gonna keep going as I am, reminding him I love him and encouraging him to eat.” I answered. “I’ve decided once he reaches 110lb we will get outta here”
“Gerard, that’s gonna take months, he needs psychiatric help” He explained.
“We’re fucked” I cried.
“No no you are not!” He reassured “Have you told Mikey about your plans?”
“Well no, I wanted to talk to you first” I replied “He’d be fine with it though”
“Yeah I’m sure, when do you plan on telling him?” He questioned.
“I don’t know, I’m not sure whether telling him now would motivate him to get better or if I should wait until he’s a healthy weight and we’re about to go” I explained.
“Gee, It’s gonna take a long time and you need out of there so much sooner. Listen, talk to him, pick a date, soon, like I’m talking in the next few days, send me another one of those buzz back messages, make sure he eats as much as possible on the day, at least have him drink loads of water then come here. Theres a room free for you two to share. And I’ll warn the guys to have their party’s some place else, he’s quite young isn’t he? We will get him the help he needs. And you too. It’ll be okay. You don’t have to go through this alone.” He told me firmly. I grinned, what an amazing guy, I needed to get back to Mikey though.
“Thank you so much! I have to go okay, seriously dude, I appreciate this so much” I thanked him. We said our goodbyes and I hung up and leant against the living room wall and let streams of happy tears spill down my cheeks.
I woke up at about 9am, although irritated by the bright white wave of sunlight streaming in through the window I felt pretty good. My brother was still curled up in my arms, fast asleep. I doubt he had slept before he came in to see me, poor kid so I left him to it. After daydreaming for a while, coffee called so gently I pulled my arm out from underneath him and slipped out from under the covers, making sure to tuck him back in. I crept downstairs, I could hear my parents snoring, they’d probably stayed up late, hopefully not late enough to have heard the events of that night. Putting the kettle on my thoughts began wandering, I was serious about this running away idea and for the hundredth time mentally planned it. What: running away. Why: abusive parents. When: Once Mikey reached 110lbs. How: …um? Me and Mikey were ‘homeschooled’ (by that I mean being trapped inside, never socialising, with no friends, getting no education whatsoever) so no one would really notice us missing, it’s not like our parents gave a damn. We had this person who come round every few months to check our progress, most time’s it was none but somehow we got away with it. The education system didn’t seem to give a damn either. I had my exams coming up, we had had a meeting about it a few months ago, I had to go into this college place on certain dates and sit and do a few papers, I was dreading it and really didn’t see the point. I was worried these would clash with our escape but I didn’t think about it that much I mean I’d just get a ‘did not turn up’ mark or something and it’s not like anyone would look into why. The second Mikey was well enough we would be out of there no ifs or buts.
I had this friend, Ray, who was about a year older than me and lived in a flat with 3 or 4 other people the same age. We were lucky to have met, about 4months ago I won some money on a scratchcard. Okay, not loads. £50. But it was enough to buy a ticket to see fall out boy live. I had never been to a concert before and knew my parents wouldn’t allow it (hypocritical much) so while they were out getting shitfaced I snuck away without telling anyone. It was the biggest thrill of my life to be honest but I was kinda worried because I was completely alone and had no idea what I was doing. I managed to get the right train and tube and got there pretty early. To my disappointment I didn’t quite make the barrier but I was only 2 or 3 people from it and if I positioned my head in a certain way I got a pretty clear view of the stage, that was if the guy in front of me’s goddamn afro stayed out the way. When fall out boy stepped on stage my heart stopped, I couldn’t see most of the band but to my delight Pete positioned himself right in the small section of stage visible between people’s heads. For about 30secs I watched him avidly in stunned silence but when ‘the phoenix’s guitars kicked in the place erupted and it felt absolutely amazing. I sang until my lungs gave out and danced danced (and I fell apart to half time) and the feeling it gave me couldn’t even be ruined by inappropriately large hair blocking my view. This was until I felt myself sweating and going dizzy and I couldn’t stay upright any longer. Darkness engulfed me and I woke up at the side of the room with the owner of the afro looking at me concerned. He explained I’d passed out and security had fished me out the crowd but when he realised I was there alone he couldn’t have me waking up confused in a loud hot room with no one around to look out for me. I was astonished by his kindness and we watched the rest of the gig together from the side. He told me his name was Ray Toro and after the show finished we went back to his place. I met his flatmates, I forgot their names but I remember a blonde dude who was frankly a bit of an arsehole, a short punky kid and I think a couple of girls, though they may have just come home with the arsehole. I hadn’t seen Ray in real life since, but we kept in touch over text, messaging everyday when I had credit. We learned a lot about eachother and I think he was kinda beginning to tell my situation so I hoped if I spoke to him he’d let me stay with him. I wasn’t sure if I should speak to Mikey first or Ray. I mean my brother deserved to know my plans but at the same time I didn’t really have any plans made at all.
I pulled out my phone, I had no credit but remembered this thing I’d used before where you text a phone number to a certain number and they send them a text saying something along the lines of ‘This person has no credit but if you could give them a call they’d appreciate it’. I typed out Ray’s number in a message, I had it memorised, put “30303”as the recipient and hit send. A few moments later my phone beeped and I almost spilt my coffee. I opened the text and was disappointed to see it just read ‘Vodafone: Your buzz back message has been sent!’. Still at least I knew Ray had got it.
***
Mikey woke up at about midday and he seemed in a surprisingly good mood. I kept reminding him I was there for him, I don’t know why, just each time I said it it never seemed like enough but I managed to get him to eat a sandwich, 352 whole calories! I doubted he’d eat much else but he didn’t seem to think twice when he ate.
We sat on the bed drawing, I was really proud of how Mikey’s drawing skills progressed in just a few weeks. He was sat cross legged sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration, working on a character he’d made up himself. From what I could tell they had the same stripe across their eyes as the one I’d painted on him the other week and had these rocket powered knee high boots that gave them the ability to fly. I was drawing a character myself, he was based off of Mikey and he was called “Kobra Kid”. He played karate and although he looked kinda awkward he was stonger than anyone around and one kick from him had the potential to kill.
“Down, Down, In an earlier round, sugar we’re going down swinging!” my phone blared out of nowhere. I grabbed it knowing it was Ray, I had set a custom ringtone for him dedicated to the night we met. Not that it’d make much difference, he was the only one who ever called me.
“I just gotta take this” I gabbled to my brother who nodded looking confused. “Hello” I mumbled as I answered the phone rushing downstairs. My parents were awake but in their room so I made sure I was out of earshot.
“Gerard!” Ray exclaimed “We’ve not spoken in ages!”
“Yeah, sorry, I had no credit” I apologised.
“Don’t worry, you okay?” He asked, I could detect the concern in his voice.
“Yeah um” I paused trying to think of how to phrase what I wanted to say. “Are you still living in that flat with the others?”
“Yeah, well Jamia and Bob have moved out now, why?” He replied, puzzled. I smiled, maybe that meant there was space for Mikey and I.
“Well um I was th-thinking, um I- I” I stammered struggling to find words.
“Is everything okay gee?” He asked, worriedly.
“Um, kinda, well no not really” I mumbled.
“Oh god, whats up?” He questioned.
“Well my p-parents are kinda arseholes, they’re pretty a-angry and it’s hurting my brother” I stuttered.
“So are they abusive?” He asked, surpisingly firmly.
“Um yea” I replied.
“I thought so- oh so that’s why you were asking about the flat? Gee, you are welcome here anytime okay there’s a room free now, perfect timing! Hey, you’re coming to live here! And you’re brother too. You can come round tomorrow if you want, I want you out of that place asap” He gabbled. I smiled, he was so caring.
“Thank you but I can’t not yet” I murmured.
“What? Why?” he exclaimed verging on angry. I was amazed by how passionately he cared for me, we’d only seen eachother once.
“It’s Mikey” I mumbled, feeling tears prick my eyes.
“Oh god, what’s wrong?” he gasped.
“He’s kinda um i-ill not like p-physically well yeah physically h-he has an um he’s a-anorexic” I replied my voice breaking. “He is really u-underweight like dangerously. I found a bunch of um stuff in his d-drawer. He’s been self h-harming. And m-making himself s-sick. And using l-laxatives. He’s only 9-95lbs and only h-has like 300 c-calories a day. It’s this environment. It’s our parents, they’re k-killing him. They’re so c-cruel to him. I n-need to get him out of h-here but I n-need to get him better first, it w-wouldn’t be safe to r-run when he’s like th-this” I practically wailed. It felt so odd saying all this aloud, and it hurt more than I expected.
“I don’t know what to say” Ray murmured surprisingly negatively “My step sister had anorexia, I don’t know what happened to her, our parents split and I didn’t see her again, it’s a cruel disease.”
“I know” I sighed.
“It’ll be okay though. How do you plan on getting him better?” He asked changing his tone.
“I think I’m just gonna keep going as I am, reminding him I love him and encouraging him to eat.” I answered. “I’ve decided once he reaches 110lb we will get outta here”
“Gerard, that’s gonna take months, he needs psychiatric help” He explained.
“We’re fucked” I cried.
“No no you are not!” He reassured “Have you told Mikey about your plans?”
“Well no, I wanted to talk to you first” I replied “He’d be fine with it though”
“Yeah I’m sure, when do you plan on telling him?” He questioned.
“I don’t know, I’m not sure whether telling him now would motivate him to get better or if I should wait until he’s a healthy weight and we’re about to go” I explained.
“Gee, It’s gonna take a long time and you need out of there so much sooner. Listen, talk to him, pick a date, soon, like I’m talking in the next few days, send me another one of those buzz back messages, make sure he eats as much as possible on the day, at least have him drink loads of water then come here. Theres a room free for you two to share. And I’ll warn the guys to have their party’s some place else, he’s quite young isn’t he? We will get him the help he needs. And you too. It’ll be okay. You don’t have to go through this alone.” He told me firmly. I grinned, what an amazing guy, I needed to get back to Mikey though.
“Thank you so much! I have to go okay, seriously dude, I appreciate this so much” I thanked him. We said our goodbyes and I hung up and leant against the living room wall and let streams of happy tears spill down my cheeks.
Notes
O my god an update 2 days in a row!? What is this madness?
This isn't as heavy as what's been going down before and hopefully it'll stay this way for a good few chapters. I'm also gonna try and update a lot more regularly, i think this fic is about to get properly started n hopefully itll be good. also notice the mention of a short punky kid ;)
This may be the stereotypically slightly sexually frustrated scorpio side of me talking but i was thinking of doing a bit of smut in the next chapter. I was thinking of having him take a shower and ya know relieve himself, obviously gerard is asexual and this isn't changing but it's totally normal for an asexual person to masturbate, a lot do and the idea they dont is common misconception. Thing is i'm a 14 year old virgin so i'm not sure how good it'd be but at the same time i have fingers and a visual mind soo. Anyway thoughts plz?
Hope you have an amazing day <3
plz comment n shizzle
Megan x
Please come back to this
2/19/16