The next week is…actually pretty peaceful. Jared keeps his distance, for once. Guess he’s not used to people fighting back. Mikey still doesn’t acknowledge my presence, but what can I do about it? I didn’t mean to screw up his life so much. I do start to notice things about him now, though. Like the dark circles under his eyes…Or the fact that his hair has gotten messier. I feel horrible.

There is one funny moment though. On Monday I go into school ready to see Jared’s bruises again…Only to discover that they aren’t there anymore. He looks just the same as always. Naturally, that can only mean one thing. He’s wearing makeup. Which is to say, doing something that he’s been giving me shit over for the past few years. I see my chance and take it.

“Hey, fag,” I say as I pass him. At first, he does nothing. Then he takes the bait.

“What’d you say, freak?”

“Oh, you know, I just happened to notice all that makeup you’re wearing. Where’d you get it? Your sister give it to you?”

He snarls, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Iero. You wear the makeup. Not me.”

“Uh-huh. I totally believe you. So those bruises I gave you magically healed over the weekend?” I smile sweetly at him. By now there’s a crowd, which means two things. 1) He can’t do anything to me without it being reported. 2) There’s a lot of people who know I beat him up and a lot more who will soon.

“I. Don’t. Know. What. You’re. Talking. About.” He repeats himself before stalking off. I think I won.

…

I was wrong. I didn’t win, I just transferred the wrath. I should have known you can’t stop someone like him.

I’m walking home on Thursday. It was a nice day, all in all. I even aced my bio test. Now I feel like that was a bad omen, because as I pass the alley…The same alley that I pounded the snot out of Jared in…I hear a small whimper. Then a louder growl.

“What’s the matter? Your fuck buddy not coming to save you?”

“I…I don’t know who you’re talking about! Let me go!”

“Fat chance,” I know those voices. It’s Mikey and Jared. And by the sound of it, they aren’t enjoying afternoon tea. A large smack resounds from the space and I don’t even think before dashing in. Just as I thought, Jared is leaning over Mikey. An unconscious Mikey who has blood running out of his ear. That can’t be good.

I let out an inhuman roar as I tackle Jared to the ground. His cronies aren’t here to stop me this time. I go off on him, punching and clawing and biting. It feels good to finally be able to let out all my anger. I distantly hear someone yelling, and then I realize it’s me.

“You fucking asshole! Pick on me, fine, but leave my fucking friends alone! You think it’s funny to attack someone who can’t defend themselves?! Well, do you?! How does it feel to be on the other end?! Huh?! How. Does. It. Feel?!”

I stop when I realize he can’t answer me. He’s knocked out as cold as Mikey. I can’t even remember when he stopped struggling, but this can’t be good. His nose is bleeding again, and he now has scratches to go with his bruises, which spread down to his chest now. I should just leave him here, but…
You’re no better than Jared.

That’s probably exactly what the douchebag was going to do to Mikey. Even if I don’t take him to a hospital, I have to get him somewhere with a house. I can’t exactly take two unconscious bodies home to Mom….I’ll have to go to Mikey’s house and see if Gerard knows what to do. And hope he’s not too drunk. Better call ahead. I pull out my phone and hit the contact.

Ring. Ring, “Frankie?”

“Um, hey, I have a situation, and…I need your help.”

“Of course, anything. What’s wrong?”

I relay the story to him, and he gasps, “Get them here right away. Are they both breathing?”

I look at Mikey, whose chest is rising and falling heavily. Then at Jared, whose breaths are much shallower, “Yeah. They are.”

“Good. I’ll see you when you get here.”

The line goes dead and I curse myself. I should have asked him for help. How am I supposed to carry two bodies that far? I don’t like to admit it, but I’m a little guy. I can’t handle situations like this. I mean, Jared and Mikey aren’t exactly light. But I have no choice.

I somehow swing Jared over my shoulders and get Mikey in my arms bridal style. I’m gonna need a chiropractor after this. I move as quickly as possible, because this is going to look terrible to the neighbors if they happen to look outside. Still, it takes a good twenty minutes to walk a distance that can be run in five. Gerard is waiting by the door and he takes Mikey out of my arm.

He lays Mikey on one couch and motions to the other for Jared. I set him down and look back at Gerard for instructions. He leaves the room and comes back shortly with two bags of frozen vegetables. He throws those to me.

“Put those on his bruises to stop the swelling. I’ll take care of Mikey, but he doesn’t look too beat up.”

I nod and place one bag on Jared’s face and the other on his chest. Part of me feels bad for this. But, honestly, if you took all the bruises he’s given me over the years and put them on my body all at once…I’d probably look worse than this. So he’s just getting what he deserves, right? Or maybe I’m just rationalizing…People do that when they don’t want to admit something. I don’t want to admit that I almost killed a classmate with my bare hands.

I notice that blood is still running from his nose. I turn to Gerard, “How do I—”

Before I can finish the question, he grabs me into a hug. I stand there, frozen.

“Thank you so much.” He whispers.

“Um, no problem…uh…how do I stop Jared’s nose? The blood’s gonna get on the couch soon.”

He pulls back, as if he had forgotten about the situation, “Right. There are tissues on the end table. Use those. Just stick ‘em in his nostrils.”

I do as he says, although it feels really weird to be shoving things into someone else’s nose. Then I hear a groan from behind me. I look over to see that Mikey’s waking up. He blinks sleepily and looks around the room. Hi eyes widen insanely when they rest on the other couch.

“Holy shit! What happened?!” he yells. Then he digs at his ear, as if it’s bothering him. He looks sick when his finger comes out with half dried blood.

“Frank saved you,” Gerard answers his question, “He gave that fucker what he deserved.”

Mikey then turns his gaze to me with awe in his eyes. I look down and play with the hem of my shirt, “It…was nothing. I couldn’t just stand there…you’re my only friend….”

And then I’m hugged again, by Mikey this time. I hug him back, and I feel a little bit of hope. Maybe our friendship can be saved. I mean, I don’t expect full forgiveness over night, but maybe after a while. That would be great. I hate being alone.

Unfortunately, Jared has to ruin the moment by coming to. I hate that guy. He lets out a loud groan. Then he starts yelling.

“What the fuck, where am I?!”

Gerard gets angry real quick, “Shut the fuck up! I don’t want to hear a word out of your slime ball mouth, got it?! You’re lucky you aren’t dead, and you’re double lucky that I’m not gonna change that!”

Jared snorts, “Yeah? And who are you?”

Gerard growls, looking like he really wants to hurt Jared, “I said shut up! I’m the guy whose brother you had no business picking on. Want to explain that, huh?”

He seems to realize that he’s not alone with Gerard at that point. He blinks as he looks between me and Mikey. Then he laughs, short and sarcastic, “I don’t have to explain anything. Why don’t you explain why your brother’s such a flaming homo with Frankie boy here?”

I put a hand on Gerard’s arm to stop him from taking the bait, “Jared, I didn’t have to bring you here. I could have left your mangy ass lying in that alley until someone found you. That’s probably what you deserved, but I’m better than that. The least you can do is be grateful. I know that’s not going to happen, though, so it’d be best if you just leave.”

Jared looks taken back, “Whatever. I didn’t ask for your pity. I’m outa here. I’ll see you in school tomorrow.”

I can’t help but feel like that last bit was a threat, but before I can confirm it he’s gone. Good riddance. I turn to Mikey and give him a sheepish smile. I have no idea what’s going to happen now.

“You don’t think he’ll, like, go to the police, do you?” Mikey asks.

“And risk his badass reputation? Doubt it. He doesn’t want people to know someone like me can beat him.”

He sinks back onto the couch, “That’s a relief.”

I bite my lip, “So…Are we cool?”

He looks up at me, “Well…what you said was still pretty insensitive, but…I guess I was pretty harsh too. I kind of exaggerated on some of the stuff I said. So I guess we’re even there…”

I smile and turn to Gerard, only to find that he’s staring at me. that makes me blush, “What about you?”

He grips my shoulder, “I forgave you a while ago. But even if I hadn’t, you saved my baby brother’s life. That outweighs a few meaningless words.”

“Thanks. I’m glad,” I am glad. Even though he creeps me out, I can’t stand the thought of Gerard being mad at me. He’s becoming like a friend, too, I guess…

“You wanna spend the night, Frank? You can sleep in my room this time,” Mikey asks.

“Sounds great. Just let me run home to get some clothes.”