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The angry vibrations of Mikey's phone reverberated throughout the dark room, waking him. He groaned, rolling over to face his bedside table.

"What the fuck..." he murmured. He grabbed the phone and answered, holding it to the ear that wasn't pressed to the pillow. "Hello," he mumbled thickly.

"I'm real sorry, Mikey," came the familiar voice of the bartender from the other line.

He groaned. "Goddammit!" he sighed. Dammit, Gerard. "I'll be there in a few minutes," he told the man, hanging up. He sat up in bed and rubbed sleep from his eyes. Getting dressed, he grumbled to himself about his older brother's stupidity. Couldn't he find another way of solving his problems?

He walked through the chill night air down to the bar, mumbling grumpily to himself the whole way. When he finally reached the pub, he walked in and blew into his hands to warm them up. The weather was already turning colder.

He glanced around the bar, unusually empty, seeing as it was a Saturday night. Mikey shrugged. "Hey," he called to the bartender, who nodded at him and pointed at Gerard, slumped in a chair and crying. Oh, Lord.

He walked over and gently nudged his brother, going into coddle mode. "Gee," he said softly, catching his brother's attention. Gerard looked up at Mikey and sniffed, tears shining in his eyes, and he was frowning.

"Mi-Mi-key, I'm--sooooooo-hic-sorry..." he moaned. Mikey smiled reassuredly.

"It's okay, Gee, let's just get you home," he said. Gerard sniffed again, and stood up with the aid of his baby brother. Mikey loaded him into his car and took the driver's seat.

As he drove home, Gerard fell asleep with the rocking motions of the car. When they got home, Mikey woke him and helped him up to his room. He tucked him into his bed and lovingly put a hand on his head.

Gerard looked guiltily up at his baby brother. So cute, and innocent. What would he think of him? "Mike," he said. "I did something real ba-hic-bad..." his lower lip trembled.

"It's fine, Gee," Mikey cooed. "Whatever it is, we can talk it over tomorrow, right?"

"No!" Gerard protested strongly. Mikey looked taken aback for a moment, but composed himself.

"Okay," he said. "What is it?"

Gerard began to cry again, tear sliding down his cheeks. "I can't--I--I," he gasped for breath to keep from sobbing. "I--Frank--he--" Mikey snapped to attention at his boyfriend's name

"What is it, Gerard?" he said urgently. Was Frank hurt? Had Gerard done something to him? "What happened?"

"I--I'm so sorry," he repeated. He gulped. "I--the park...Frank and the po--the police, and..." he struggled to get the words out, to make sense in his drunken stupor.

"What?" Mikey exclaimed, near frantic. "What happened with the police?" Gerard just shook his head, unable to string the words together. "Gerard!" he snapped, losing his patience. "Tell me right now, what happened?"

Gerard bit his lip, knowing he was in big trouble. "I--I'm so sorry Mike," he repeated once more. "I--I met Frank at-at-at the park and--
'nd he got reeeaaaallllyyy zrunk 'nd high an' we were...and then the cops came and took him away and I ran an' I'm so sorry!" he wailed once more, breaking out in tears now that his story had ended.

Mikey stared at his brother. Could he be serious, or was this just drunken ranting? "Gee," he said slowly, measuring his words. "Are you serious?"

The older Way nodded his head between sobs. Mikey took a few calming breaths, trying not to lose his temper while his brother's judgement was impaired.

"It's okay, Gee," he said finally. "We'll talk about it in the morning. Just go to sleep now, and don't worry about it."

Gerard nodded, sniffled, and turned over. He fell promptly asleep and Mikey sighed as he walked out of the room. What had happened? Where was Frank?

Mikey picked up his phone when he got to back to his room and dialed Frank's number, willing his boyfriend to just answer.

"Hello?" A woman's voice, the voice of Frank's mother.

"Mrs. Iero?" he said, his heart sinking.

"Yes, Mikey, it's me," she answered, and it sounded as though she had been crying.

"Oh, God. Oh, God, what happened?"

"Calm down, dear," she assured. "He's not hurt, just stupid. They--they have to put him in the Trenton Boys' Correctional Facility until his hearing, and we find out more from there."

"How long will that be?" Mikey asked, dread branching out in his chest.

"About a month."

"Oh..." Mikey thought for a moment. "Can he have visitors?"

"Yes he can. I'm sure that he'd be glad to see you there tomorrow," she added pointedly.

"Okay. Thanks Mrs. Iero, I'm real sorry," he added, knowing that it was Gerard's fault, and thus feeling guilty.

"It's fine, honey. I'll talk to you some other time, dear," she said, and hung up. Mikey heard the click from the other line and sighed, also hanging up.

"Mikey!" Frank said excitedly as he stared through the glass. Mikey tilted his head to the side, and gestured to the small red phone to the left of the window. Frank picked it up and repeated what he had first said.

"Hi Frank," he said, a real smile spreading over his face to match the one on Frank's.

"How did you--who told you I was here?" he asked, wondering if Gerard had told him what had happened.

"I called your phone last night and your mom answered," he told him.

"Oh..." Frank said. And the two sat in silence for a moment, fiddling with the cord on the phone.

"Frank," Mikey said finally. "What happened?"

Frank looked down. The euphoria from seeing Mikey dissipated and guilt settled in his chest. The events of the past 24 hours came rushing back to memory.

"Frank," Mikey repeated firmly.

He looked up and took a deep shuddering breath. "Gerard asked to meet me last night at the park..." and from there, he told his boyfriend the entire story, ending with, "And I am so sorry, Mikey,"

Mikey blinked hard, trying to stay composed. "It's alright, Frank," he said. "I forgive you," Frank jerked his head up, looking Mikey in the eyes, tears welling in his own. He smiled once more and nodded. "But I can't be your boyfriend anymore," Mikey continued.

Frank continued to gaze into Mikey's eyes. A single tear ran down his cheek and he bit his lower lip. The guilt had returned to his chest, and it felt like his heart was breaking into a million little pieces. He drew a shuddering breath and, try as he might, he couldn't break his locked gaze with Mikey's. He put his free hand up to the glass, and Mikey did the same, matching his ex-boyfriend's hand, and feeling the warmth from his body heat seaping through the window. Frank smiled meekly, but lost it when he saw the heartbreak in Mikey's stare.

"I know," he said.

"I still love you,"

"I know. I love you too. I wish you could know how much." Frank lamented, wishing with all his might that Mikey would understand, would take him back, change his mind, anything but this.

"I do know, I really do. But it's not me you're in love with. We both know that," Mikey told him firmly but gently at the same time.

Frank sat back in his chair, closing his eyes and breathing deep. "Alright, Mikey. Alright."

"I'll still come visit as often as possible," Mikey promised, hoping Frank knew that he still cared for him.

"Okay." Frank didn't believe him. Who would want to visit him?

"I have to go now," Mikey told him, wishing he could spend the whole day with Frank, talking, and discussing what had just happened.

"I know."

"I love you, Frankie-boy."

"I love you too, Mike,"

And Mikey left, and he was gone, and Frank was left sitting at his little window, still clutching the phone to his ear, and feeling empty. After a minute, he got up and went back to his room, to mull things over. To wonder if he even wanted to get out of here now.

Because it's not like there was anything better waiting for him on the outside.


How proud of me are you! I wrote this LONG chapter, I wrote it in the span of UNDER A WEEK, and it's very low on the grammar mistakes, if there are any at all. I am quite proud of myself, if I do say so. So what do you think? Good confrontation between Mikey and Frank? I tried. Listen guys, I hate to bring in review minimums, but you can't deny that this is bullshit. One review on my last chapter? Honestly? Not that I think that I'm some big hot shit now that I've gotten the tenth chapter up, but I would just appreciate a little acknowledgement for the fact that I am writing this, not only for myself, but for you guys as well, my readers. So come on, go post a review. It takes all of two seconds. Well, that's me, I'm OverAndOutxx