Golden Days

Mikey tensed behind Gerard, swallowing hard as he stared down the nightmare of a man who stood in front of the Way brothers. Bob Bryar stood, in the flesh mind you, right smack bang in the middle of the sidewalk, peering over a pair of tinted sunglasses. The man in front of the both of them seemed to be like an awful dream.

“Bryar” Michael said curtly, straightening up from Gerard’s shoulder from which he had been perched while talking to the kid who Bob claimed, quite horrifyingly, to be “His Boy”. It had been a long time since the three had seen each other face to face, never mind even thought about each other. To Gerard it made sense that, tonight of all nights, he would have to look that demon of a man in the face.

You see, the Way brothers had been in New York a year, but it didn’t stop the past following them. Bob Bryar was their past and unfortunately deeply tied to them. When they had first arrived in New York, the two had barely been able to make it. Sure, they had rented an apartment that was in a rich area, but there was simply no way whatsoever that they could have survived all that long without any cash coming in and with a 19 year old with him all the time, there was no real way Gerard could get a good income.

Then Gerard met Bob Bryar.

He had managed to ditch Mikey at some guy’s party by promising to be in his line of sight at all times. Gerard however had other ideas, and was sure that his brother was safe enough despite the copious amounts of alcohol and drugs being passed around to the party goers. Mikey was constantly disapproving of Gerard’s habits so sometimes abandoning him was the only way Gerard could get to do his own thing. Not that he didn’t love his brother. Not that he wanted to mess him up. Gerard just needed some time away.

Gerard made his way outside into the cold alley, fingers grasping around his deep jacket pockets for whatever cash he had scraped together for tonight’s entertainment. He heard the crowd before he saw them. Most of them were leaning on the wall or on the dumpster, some however were lying on the ground and were most likely riding out their highs from whatever they were taking. He scouted out the crowd looking for the person dealing.

The guy dealing was just slightly taller than Gerard, and more broadly built. His strawberry blonde hair was stuck to his face and his jacket was zipped up. Another guy was exchanging money for a bag of some drug that was impossible to work out what contents were. Gerard moved closer, grinning at his luck, judging by the crowd the guy was obviously handing out the good stuff and he was reliable too based on the continuous stream of customers.

“Hey, uh, just after some weed” Gerard said as he moved towards the dealer. The dealer himself cocked his head looking confused for a brief second before fishing around in his pockets.

“Never seen you around here” Said the guy, a little gruffly “I’m Bob, Bob Bryar” He withdrew his hand from his pocket, carrying a small bag of what Gerard automatically knew was weed.

“Just moved, I’m Gerard” Gerard muttered in response, withdrawing $20 quickly.

“30.” Bob sighed, looking like he’s seen the scene all before. Gerard silently cursed himself, groping around for whatever he could find in his pockets. Sighing, he withdrew a couple of cents and nothing else. Bryar held out his hand.

“First time buyer discount I suppose” He said and Gerard grinned. The weed was exchanged for 20 dollars much to Gerard’s relief.

20 minutes later Gerard was hauled up against the dumpster smoking a joint. He breathed out white smoke, the high continuing as the joint started to burn low. Bryar was leaning on the dumpster right beside him, talking about whatever came to mind to him. Bob seemed amicable enough to Gerard, apart from when some kid came up with $5 asking for something cheap, then he turned vicious.

Time continued to pass while the two chatted, finally Gerard was coming off his high, and Bob was grinning to himself as the slightly older boy complained about his little brother, a kid who refused to get with the times “Hey you know Gerard, you and your brother can come to me if you need to earn some cash” Bob offered. Gerard rolled his eyes, unsure of quite how to respond to the question.

“I’ll think about it Bob, I’d have to convince Mikey but… he knows we need money, god damn it, I can barely keep up with rent right now” Gerard’s mind was spinning. Like in everything Gerard was thinking of his baby brother despite his spinning head. It was the thought of Mikey having no place to go that drove Gerard on. He couldn’t abandon him, ever.

Barely seconds later, Gerard was scampering to his feet with a “Shit, where is Mikey?” He dropped whatever was left of his joint as he rushed back into the party. His eyes scanned the party goers looking for his younger brother with desperate glances. Then, he saw his brother, lying across a sofa, head in some dude’s lap. Gerard’s face hardened as he flew towards them, annoyed. He noticed the open beer in his little brother’s hand and swallowed hard.

“Mikey!” Gerard exclaimed, causing his brother to jolt upright, looking slightly terrified. The guy whose lap Mikey had been resting on looked pissed off at the intrusion. Gerard set his expression into one of disgust for the young man, folding his arms as he stared his shocked brother’s face “Michael James Way, move it, now”

Mikey frowned, slipping his legs around so he was sitting upright “Sure Gee, because you can slip off to get high and I can’t even have a drink” He grumbled, leaning back against the sofa, right back into the guy’s arm. Gerard bit his lip, Mikey had worked out where he had headed off to “Yeah ‘Gerard Arthur Way’ I know exactly where you slipped off to”

“Mikey… lil bro… come on” Gerard sighed, his tone was one of pleading as he held out his hand. Reluctantly Mikey unwound from the other man’s arms and got quickly to his feet. Gerard quickly grabbed his brother’s wrist, dragging him behind him. His brother dropped his beer in surprise at being propelled away from the sofa by Gerard. Mikey turned and mumbled apologies to the guy now alone, hoping that he wouldn’t take it too much to heart. Gerard dug his fingers in, moving faster “Mikey, I swear to god, come on… I think I just solved our money problems and all you can think about is hooking up with random people”

Mikey muttered apologies to his brother, although they were quite obviously tinged with sarcasm. Gerard however was more concerned about his little brother’s wellbeing than fake apologies and lies. Finally, he pulled his brother out into the night, almost smack bang into Bob Bryar. And then began the rest of their life in New York.

Of course, that was only how they met Bob, the fallout was another matter of course. The remnants of the house of memories, blown down like a deck of cards the moment their eyes met with their once trusted friend.

Now, less than a year later the three were staring each other down again under much different circumstances, anger barely concealed under the surface. The young boy that Bob had claimed as his was staring up at the three men that were looking ready to fight.
“Well Bob, Last time I checked, you don’t own anyone anymore, or are you too wasted to remember the last time that something you owned fought back” Gerard said, his tone fierce and indignant. Mikey smirked behind him, happy with his older contribution. Out of the corner of Gerard’s eye, he saw the kid flinch slightly as Bob gripped his shoulder tightly and pulled him towards his body.

There was a second where it looked like the kid was going to try to make a break for it as Bob removed his hand from his shoulder, but he was blocked in too much by the two brothers who were willing to help him, but were also a hindrance “Yeah okay Way, last time you attempted to run like the coward you are, your little brother there lost his boyfriend, am I right Michael honey?”

“Step off now Bob” Gerard threatened, his fingers grasping at the suit jacket of Mikey. His fingers connected with taught arms under silk suits.

“Then step away from Frank”

Frank… That was the kid’s name obviously. Gerard made brief eye contact with the large eyes, peering through a mess of hair. He tried his hardest to show the kid he was sorry, biting his lip as he moved back, pulling Mikey with him “Okay Bob… you got it”

Bob grinned in victory, turning and dragging Frank with him. Gerard’s shoulders slumped in defeat and beside him, Mikey’s did the same, the two brothers looking desperately at the figures retreating into the party.

“Good feeling huh, Gee?” Michael said, his voice a cracking monotone

“Mikey…”

His younger brother said nothing. Gerard said nothing. They both thought however, of the boy trapped by their worst enemy.

Notes

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