FicWad

Two weeks had passed since Mikey’s accident, and it was finally the week before the commencement of The Black Parade tour. Frank Iero and Abbey Talent were hunched in front of the oven, looking inside to check the progress of the cake they were baking. ‘You know,’ Abbey mused. ‘I’ve never appreciated until now how much of a housewife you are. If you started ridding the shower of all the pubic hair you shed, we’d be sweet.’ She stood back up straight, stretching.
Frank stood up to join her, an annoyed look on his face. ‘How is it my fault my genitals just...’ He paused to find the right word, looking down at his pants as if he could see through them. ‘Moult.’ Abbey sat up on the kitchen counter and watched Frank cleaning up the dirty mixing bowl and various other utensils. ‘So,’ he began. ‘Heard from Gerard lately?’
‘No chance.’ She shook her head, frowning. ‘No word from Mikey either.’
‘Yeah, he’s been acting weird lately. The guys said they talked to him but I don’t know how much of a difference it made.’
Abbey stared at her feet and contemplated what she wanted to say. ‘Honestly, I can’t blame him for what he did. I completely understand that need to escape...’ Frank looked back nervously at her as the doorbell rang.
‘I’ll get it,’ Abbey assured Frank, hopping down from the counter and making her way to the door.

Mikey looked up from his feet as the apartment door swung open. Abbey could not help but notice that he was looking incredibly worse for the wear. The bags under his eyes were prominent, his eyes themselves were bloodshot, and he gave off a general air of unhappiness. ‘Hey,’ Abbey said quietly, at a loss for what to say.
‘Hi,’ he replied coldly.
‘Who is it?’ Frank called from the kitchen.
Abbey tore her eyes from Mikey and looked in the general direction of the kitchen. ‘It’s Mikey,’ she said as she turned back to the dishevelled bassist. ‘Wanna come in?’ She asked him. He shook his head slowly, his face expressionless. ‘Hey, uh, Frankie? I’ll be back in a minute, okay?’ She yelled.
‘Uh, alright.’ Frank sounded confused. Abbey stepped out the door to stand in front of Mikey and closed the door behind her.

The two stood there in silence for a few minutes, until Abbey decided to break the silence. ‘Are you okay?’ She asked worriedly, reaching a hand out to touch his shoulder. He jerked away from her touch, looking livid.
‘Why the fuck didn’t you come?’ He spat.
‘What?’ Abbey was confused. What was he talking about?
‘Don’t play innocent. Just tell me why.’
‘I’m sorry Mikey, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.’ His anger was scaring her and she suddenly wished she’d forced him into the apartment where at least Frank was, instead of joining him in the hallway, alone.
‘That day at the hospital.’ He spoke quietly, but dangerously. ‘Gerard, Ray and Bob were there. Why weren’t you there? And why haven’t you called? Is it because you don’t care?’ Mikey suddenly sounded desperate. ‘I need to know.’
Everything suddenly fell into place in Abbey’s head. ‘The day after your accident?’ He nodded; the least aggressive move he had made so far in the conversation. ‘Because Gerard told me not to.’ Abbey shrugged. ‘I’m sure you know that we had a fight that day?’
Mikey immediately recalled Gerard’s snappy demeanor and understood. His thoughts then returned to the current conversation. ‘But you never called,’ he insisted. ‘Not once. And didn’t you think that maybe I needed a call from you?’ His voice was rising and his mouth was speaking before his brain could even contemplate what he was saying. ‘Didn’t I tell you the night before that I thought you were the only one who got it? That I needed you? I don’t wanna sound like a selfish prick, but you could’ve fuckin’ called. That’s all I’m saying.’ He threw his hands up in the air, looking like he was going to yell again when suddenly the apartment door was flung open by Frank, who looked panicked, holding the phone in his hand. ‘It’s Aleisha,’ he panted. ‘Emergency.’

Abbey frowned and took the phone from Frank. Mikey ran his fingers through his hair agitatedly as he watched her answer the phone. ‘Yeah?’ She said, a perplexed look splayed across her features. The look of confusion slowly vanished as it evolved from expressionless to horrified. ‘What?’ Mikey’s face fell as he realised that this call had to be serious. ‘How?’ Abbey’s eyes were filling with tears. ‘Okay. I’ll come tonight.’ Abbey turned to face the two men. ‘Darcey.’ She choked out, unable to form a real sentence.
Frank put his arm around her, and Mikey did the same as they guided her inside the apartment to the sofa. ‘What about Darcey, babe?’ Frank asked softly.
‘She’s...’ Abbey trailed off. She couldn’t say it out loud. She shook her head frantically.
Frank’s eyes widened as he watched Abbey break down into tears. ‘No...’ He breathed. But it had already been confirmed by his best friend’s devastation. ‘How?’ He asked, stunned.
‘Suicide,’ Abbey said quietly, sniffing.
‘I’m so sorry...’ Frank whispered, pulling her into his arms. Mikey reached over and grabbed her hand tightly, knowing that nothing he could say would ever be enough.

~

An hour had passed since the news had reached Frank and Abbey’s Newark apartment and nobody had moved. Abbey continued to sob as the two men held her, at a loss for what to say or do. ‘Would you like some water, Abs?’ Frank asked quietly. Abbey shook her head, as an idea formed in her head. She retracted her hand from Mikey’s and left Frank’s embrace to move to the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards. She emerged several minutes later, a vodka bottle clutched in her fingertips. Frank stood up and shook his head. ‘You are not doing this.’ He said in a low voice.
‘Don’t you dare fucking stop me, Frank. My sister just died.’ Abbey’s tone was commanding as she removed the lid and took a sip. Frank’s shoulders slumped dejectedly and he shook his head as he walked to his room, in a state of hopelessness. ‘I give up,’ he muttered.

Mikey looked to Abbey and watched her take a huge swig from the bottle. He had never identified so much with another human being in his life. He looked up at her kindly and patted the seat next to him. Abbey mechanically approached the sofa to join him and they sat in silence. He would occasionally take the bottle from her to have his own taste, but mostly they did not move. Suddenly, Abbey handed the bottle to Mikey, put her head in her hands, shaking her head and feeling sick. ‘This is all my fault...’ She muttered.
‘What? No, it’s not,’ Mikey asserted. ‘You can’t blame yourself for this, you could not have seen it coming.’
‘We had a fight,’ Abbey insisted, barely understandable through her tears. ‘I was so horrible to her. What if she did it because of me?’ She turned to Mikey and tugged on the front of his shirt with both her hands, her eyes pleading him to make her feel better.
‘I’m sure she didn’t do it just because of a fight. It’s never just one thing that causes a person to do it. It’s a bunch of things all at once that become too much. Please don’t beat yourself up about it, she would hate you to do that to yourself.’ Abbey continued to shake her head, still holding Mikey’s shirt, while looking at her lap and watching her own tears fall. Mikey roughly grabbed hold of her chin and forced her to look at him. ‘Hey. Stop. This isn’t your fault.’ Abbey did not believe him, but said nothing, merely staring at him as he slowly bent to kiss her on the cheek.

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The end is near, guys. As far as my planning goes, it's looking like this will end at chapter 20. And I know it's getting morbid, but it has to get worse before it gets better, that's just the way it works. I hope you're not too mad at me for making Abbey's life so hard :(
Rate and review! Please and thank you :)