As Snow Falls on Desert Sky

After a long night of dreaming he was Luke Skywalker, Gerard woke up to his alarm. Yes, even he was surprised. He sat up in bed, rubbed some of the sleep he knew would be sticking to his eyes all day and grabbed his new phone from his bedside table.

9:00 AM

Well, he had an hour to kill but he sure as hell wasn't wasting it. He slowly pulled himself from bed and into the kitchen, putting on a pot of coffee before he made his way to the bathroom to finally shower. He practically peeled his clothes off himself and jumped under the hot running water. He didn't know why he always put off showering - it was such a great experience. He washed himself slowly and washed his hair at least four times to get all the grease out before he finally pulled himself from the dome of water and steam, drying off and wrapping the towel around his waist. He brushed through his matted hair gingerly before walking into the kitchen again to pour his coffee.

He smiled to himself at the smell of the amber liquid. God, what a cliche thought, but he hadn't made his own, perfect coffee in the morning since he started working at the bookstore. This was such a treat he might not even ruin his first mug with a shot of vodka. He walked over to the counter and poured himself a mug smoothly, leaving out the alcohol since it was his first cup. He slowly brought the cup to his lips and then drank the liquid slowly, smiling to himself as it burned his mouth and throat.

He was so good at making coffee he considered a carrier change. Yeah, maybe he could work in a coffee shop, sell his perfect ratio of bean to water. Who knows, he could become famous in the coffee works. But that's just fantasy that he was pulled out of by his now empty cup. He sighed and poured himself another, adding some alcohol in this time before rushing off to find some clothes. He pulled his dresser away from the wall a bit and was pleasantly surprised to find a fresh outfit. He smiled to himself and easily slipped on the clothes, thinking about how lucky he was as he drank his vodka rich coffee from his Disney mug. He even decided to spring for extra deodorant today, just to keep his clothes smelling more like old spice and not like his sweat.

After finishing a third mug of coffee, he slipped on his messenger bag that he always forgot, his shoes following after before he left his apartment locked and hopefully safe enough behind him. Today, there was no stomping or throwing temper-tantrums on the way to work. Gerard didn't have his head buried in his chest while he stared at his feet and he wasn't ignoring everyone around him. He held his head a little higher, gave quick, small smiles to anyone who smiled at him and he walked to work surprisingly fast, considering he didn't have to sprint due to being late. He even made it just as Alex was getting out of their car - they hadn't even opened the door to the bookstore yet.

"What has crawled up your ass and is controlling you, Gee? You're never this - well, this on time." Alex smiled warmly at Gerard as he shrugged, returning the smile.

"Maybe it's because I actually went to bed at, like, 10 last night." Gerard laughed while Alex turned the key in the shop door, unlocking it and pushing it open for the two of them.

"Really now? And I think this is the first time I haven't seen hungover-Gerard in months." Alex noted and Gerard just shrugged, avoiding his problems like always as he walked back to his usual spot behind the cash register. There were no books to stock today, but there was a stack of green papers on the counter. Alex, noticing Gerard's glances at the papers, decided to explain. "A friend of mine is in a band - dropped those off yesterday, wondering if we could put them up around town. Could you?"

Gerard sighed before picking up a piece of paper to see a picture of the band. Well, of course. It was good, old tattoo-guy. Gerard laughed to himself, making Alex peer at him before disappearing into their office for the day. Gerard leaned against the counter and squinted at the paper, making sure it was tattoo-guy as his brain slowly decided he wanted to go. It wasn't creepy to want to get to know your neighbour, at least if you forget that Gerard has a huge crush on the small punk guy. Gerard smiled to himself and slowly folded up a flyer and pocketed it before opening his messenger bag and stuffing the flyers in there and heading back out of the store.

After about two hours and a trip around the town with a stapler from his messenger back, Gerard had put up all the posters successfully and made it back to the store to sit at his counter and draw in his sketchbook that he had brought. He had already from out the whole store three times, so now he decided to draw Alex just for the fuck of it. Of course, after he finished the basic, exact face he added on the usual dark circles and fangs to make them into a vampire. When he finished he smiled, ripped the drawing from his sketch book and slid it under Alex's door to brighten up their day, like he used to before he was a raging alcoholic.

After a few minutes, Alex came out with a huge smile on their face. "Well, I think you should take the day off and restart that project you were doing, since you're drawing again and all."

Gerard smiled shyly and blushed a bit at the mention of the project he had accidentally let them know about, about a year ago. He looked to Alex for a second before suddenly getting a burst of confidence. "You know what, I think I will."

And with that, he stood from his work post and walked home to keep drawing his comics from all those months ago.

Notes