FicWad

kay, so this is pretty much a filler chapter, so it's gonna be lame. sorry, try to enjoy =\
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Gerard's POV

I woke up the next morning to find Frankie asleep in the backseat behind me and Bob missing. Oh, God; where was Bob? I looked frantically around the car, and sighed in relief as I saw him walking up the road towards us. He was holding something in his hands.

"Bob!" I exclaimed as he got in the car. "You scared the shit out of me. Where'd you go?" I saw that he was holding three coffee cups in his hands.

"Sorry for worrying you like that. I wanted to go see what was around here. Turns out there's a little shopping center about half a mile down this road. I got some coffee down there; there's no way I'm driving all day without some. I brought you guys some too, but I didn't know if you liked coffee or not."

"Are you kidding? We love coffee!" I said, and happily drank down my cup. When I finished, I said, "Do you want me to drive today? It'll give you a break."

"Can you drive? You said you could yesterday, but you were drunk."

I could feel my face get hot. "Yeah, I can. I don't have a license yet, but that's because I'm not sixteen."

"Okay, that's good. Now we have two semi-able drivers," Bob said, half-grinning.

"So you want to take a rest from driving? I can go for today if you want." He nodded gratefully, and I looked back at Frank, who was still sleeping.

"Today's Friday, right?" Bob asked, and I had to stop and think what day it was.

"Yeah, it's Friday," I said. "...Tomorrow's the weekend."

Bob understood what I meant and patted my shoulder hearteningly. "I know you're scared, man. But trust Frank and me; we can help you," he said, and I nodded. Too bad Frankie probably didn't want to help me anymore. "Well," Bob said, finishing off his coffee. "Let's get back on the road, shall we?"

I got out and switched sides, getting behind the wheel. The sunrise was streaming through the dirty windshield, and I started the car as Bob buckled his seatbelt.

"Do you think we should wake Frank up?" Bob asked. I pulled onto the road and began driving, still unsure as to where I was or where we were going.

"Nah, I don't want him awake and talking. We kind of had an arguement yesterday."

"Oh," Bob said, not asking any more questions. "I get it."

I knew he probably didn't. Fake empathy was going to doom the world. "Sure," I said.

After a while of silence, he spoke up: "Well, I just wanna say that I really hope everything works out for you two."

"I... you do?" I asked, taken by surprise. I was also trying to avoid a giant-ass truck from squishing me into the barrier.

"Yeah," he replied. "I respect the fact that you're not afraid to be yourselves, and I wish more people could see things the way you do. Your brother, for example."

I was dumbfounded, but relieved. "Thanks, Bob. I appreciate that. You really are a good guy."

He shrugged. "I guess. I'd never be able to do the things you do. I kind of look up to you, to be honest, Gerard." I was really shocked to hear this. Bob? Looked up to me?

"You shouldn't; I've done things that I wish I could undo."

"Haven't we all?" He grinned.

"Yeah..." I said vaguely as I hit the gas and passed the truck. Finally, Gerard 1, Truck 0. Win. "But really, you shouldn't look up to a weak, penitent bastard like me."

"Hey, you're stronger than you think. Hell, you're stronger than me, and that's saying something." I grinned at this, and thanked him again, knowing it was a lie. Bob was both physically and mentally stronger than I was, and we both knew it.

My thoughts were disturbed by the sound of Frankie rustling awake in the backseat.

"Morning, Frankie," Bob said, and I stayed silent.

"Bob? You're not driving?" Frank asked, rubbing his eyes awake.

"Nope. Gerard was nice enough to take the wheel for today." Frank didn't say anything, and I felt awful. I was getting that feeling that I was going to be alone forever again, and I thought of how easy it would be to end that feeling with the fiery crash of the car I had in my hands now.

I froze, realizing what I had just thought. I couldn't be suicidal with people I loved in the car! I needed to live, too! For what, I didn't know, but I knew I had to keep living.

Which is not what I'd be doing when Mikey gets here this weekend. I hated myself for being so scared, but I was too weak not to be.

Frank's POV

When I woke up and saw that the car was moving and Bob wasn't moving it, I got scared. That either meant the car was moving by itself or Gerard was driving it, and I wasn't sure which option scared me more. I mean, Gerard was drunk when he said he could drive, and I knew how depressed he could get when he came back around.

I relaxed a little once I had woken up more and Bob had given me some coffee (how he knew I loved coffee, I didn't know), and the car was pretty much silent for the rest of the morning until Gerard got out to get some lunch.

Bob and I stayed in the car while Gerard went in to order, and we talked while we waited for Gerard.

"You know, I was just telling Gerard how proud of you two I am," Bob said.

"You what?"

"I'm proud of you," he repeated.

"You're... proud of me?" I asked. I'd never really had anyone tell me they were proud of me before. Besides Gerard and Elena, I mean. My parents didn't really congratulate me when I did something right as much as they punished me for doing wrong, so this came as a shock to me.

"Yeah," Bob said. "I think it's honorable of you two to stand up for what you believed in. I told Gerard that if Mikey were more like you guys, the world would be a hell of a lot better. So I hope everything works out with you you guys."

"Thanks," I said, then fell silent again because I knew everything probably wouldn't.

"No problem. Hey, you've been riding in the backseat since yesterday; do you wanna ride shotgun today?" I shrugged, and figured Bob wanted to stretch out after being in the cramped driver's seat for twenty-four hours. I got out and switched seats with him, and then Gerard came back to the car with a bag of food.

"I brought burgers," he said, tossing Bob the first burger. He then reached into the bag again and looked straight into my eyes as he handed me my burger. "Veggie for Frankie," he said quietly, then pulled out his own burger from the bag.

We were on the road again in a matter of minutes, silently finishing up our burgers. After we were done, we remained quiet: Gerard was focused on driving, I was looking out my window to avoid a conversation with him, and Bob was lying down in the back, his eyes starting to close. I closed mine as well and found myself dozing off.

Mikey's POV

"Mikes, I'm going to your grandmother's for a few hours; we need to get some things straightened out. I'll be back after dinner, so--"

"Okay... wait, can I go?" I asked, opportunity leaping out at me. I might be able to see my brother sooner than I thought.

"I don't know... Gerard might be there," Mom reminded me, as if I were a little kid and Gerard might scare me.

"I know. I just really miss my old friends and Grandma in Belleville," I half-lied, putting on my best puppy-dog face.

Mom sighed. "Okay, if you really want to stay that long. It'll be a few hours, you know."

"That's fine with me. We can get dinner or whatever on the way back or something." I was trying not to make it obvious that I had something eagerly planned.

"Okay. Tell your father where you'll be, and I'll be waiting for you in the car."

I smiled to myself and did as I was told. Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for.