FicWad

A/N: This is my first one-shot. There's no Frerard/Waycest or anything of the sorts, it's just a really cute and innocent story. :3 Enjoy! I'd also like to add that this is uploaded on my tumblr and dA account, so if you see if in either of those places it is most likely me that posted it. Feel free to message me on those accounts to confirm if you've seen it. xD

A knock on the door had Gerard hopping out of the orange chair by his wooden desk and on his feet in half a second. He grinned and slapped his worn down pencil on his brand new sketchbook before scrambling to open his door and hopping out of the room. The little boy ran to the door and hovered around his mother while she opened it, a friendly smile on her pale white face. “Good morning, Linda.” Such words always signaled a special guest in the house for the day.

“Gerard!” A tiny boy peered between Mrs. Iero’s legs, a goofy smile on his chubby face. “Hi-lo, GeeGee!” Gerard giggled at his weird pronunciation of the word “hello” before walking around his mother and nearly tripping over his entirely too long dinosaur pajamas. He extended his arms and Frank rushed forward, clinging tightly to the older boy’s waist. Gerard lightly patted his black-haired head.

“Hi, Frankie! Guess what? I just turned eight!” he announced, feeling rather proud of this statement. It was indeed true; just three days ago had been his birthday and he had gotten his fantastic new sketchbook. It was black with a pair of vampire fangs on the cover on it, and each new page was fresh and unmarked, ready to be doodled upon. Gerard loved it. He had barely put it down ever since he had unwrapped it from its plastic case.

Frank gazed up at Gerard like that was the most fantastic thing in the world. “I’m four!” he said with a grin, pulling one hand away from his hug to show five fingers. Gerard giggled again and gently put one finger down. Frank stared at his hand, then looked at his mom and copied Gerard’s giggle.

Mrs. Iero chuckled lightly and looked at Gerard’s mother, smiling helplessly as if she didn’t know what they were going to do with those two. “Thanks again, Donna,” she said quietly, looking down at her son. “I hate having to leave him with a babysitter, but I always feel so bad dumping him on you for a day.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Mrs. Way scoffed, waving her hand as to dismiss this statement entirely. “It’s fine. Gerard and Frank love playing together. Mikey thinks Frank is pretty amazing too.” She tittered lightly before placing her hand on Gerard’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take Frankie to your room, Gee?” she suggested. “You can show him all of your new drawings!”

The boy’s eyes lit up eagerly and he nodded, clasping his hand around Frank’s arm and dragging him to his messy room. Toys, paper, and clothes were strewn all over the place, but his desk remained almost entirely uncluttered. Paintings hung from the wall in his room and long abandoned sketches were in a neat pile at one corner of his desk. In the center of the counter laid his open sketchbook with the stubby pencil laying on it. “Look!” Gerard demanded, sitting in the chair and pulling Frank onto his lap. He flipped the book to a specific page that he wanted the little boy to see. On it was a neatly drawn picture of Frank holding his favorite blanket of Gerard’s, the one with the swords all over the place. Though there were some anatomical problems—Frank’s head was a little too big for his body and his feet a little too small—it was a cute, well-meaning drawing. As Frank basked in the glory of having a picture of his in his best friend’s brand new sketchbook, Gerard traced over the design of a stegosaurus on his pants nervously. “Do you like it?” he asked quietly.

“I love it, GeeGee!” Frank squealed, placing his hand on the picture. Gerard’s face instantly broke into another grin, exposing all of his tiny teeth. “Is very nice. And the blanket!” The four-year-old slid off Gerard’s lap and, as Gerard spun around in the chair to face his friend, searched around for the blanket that was in the drawing. He found it sticking out under a pile of toys and held it to his face, inhaling deeply and grinning. “Blanket.” Frank clutched it in his hand and ran back to Gerard, giggling as he clumsily scrambled back into Gerard’s lap. He tugged on Gerard’s shirt and pointed at the sketchbook again, silently asking to see more of his drawings. Frank always loved his drawings, especially when they were colored. They were so pretty and flamboyant and bright and lovely. “Please?”

Well, how could Gerard resist puppy eyes? He grinned and moved Frank so that he was sitting more comfortably. “Okay!” he agreed with a nod of his head. Gerard flipped through his sketchbook, opening a world of dragons, swords, knights, fruit, made-up characters, and colors to young Frankie. His eyes popped and he gaped at the wonderful pictures, instantly wishing that he’d grow up to be like Gerard in the artistic way.

One picture flashed quickly before his eyes and Frank grabbed the sketchbook from Gerard’s hands. “Hey, no!” Gerard cried, groping at the book to stop him. Frank held it out and flipped it backward. He stared at the picture, wondering why Gerard didn’t want him to see it. It was the best one he’d ever seen! Mikey, Frank, and Gerard were standing in a row, Gerard in the middle with the two younger boys next to him. The older boy was beaming and grasping their hands, staring straight ahead as if into a camera. Mikey was looking shyly at the ground, his knees turning slightly inward as the almost always did. Frank was staring up at Gerard with a look of pure admiration in his face, his other hand holding the blanket as it did now. It was colored and absolutely beautiful.

“So pretty!” Frank gasped, holding the sketchbook to his face and hugging it tightly. Gerard swallowed and relaxed majorly. He’d thought that Frank wouldn’t like that one, that he wouldn’t like having Gerard hold his hand. Four-year-olds were often stubborn and didn’t like their hands held. What if he hadn’t liked it in drawing either? “It’s my favorite,” the little black-haired boy whispered, wiping Gerard’s concerns away. He beamed and hugged Frank, glad that he liked the drawing.

“Hi, Frank,” came a tiny voice, and the two boys looked over to see Mikey standing sleepily in the doorway. Gerard’s little brother often slept late, and he’d just woken up at ten o’clock. Gerard never understood how he slept so late; he himself was always up at six and spent the hours until breakfast drawing in his sketchbooks. Mikey yawned and rubbed at his eyes before blinking and narrowing them to see well. He definitely had the worst eyesight out of all of the Ways, and Mrs. Way was often talking about getting him glasses when he was a little older. “When’d you get here?” he slurred, breaking into another yawn.

Frank slid off of Gerard’s lap and wobbled over to Mikey, capturing the five-year-old in a hug. “Fifty seconds ago!” he said randomly, giggling. Mikey smiled only slightly and hugged the kid back before pulling away and looking at Gerard.

“I thought today we were going to draw together?” he asked softly, the hurt showing in his voice. Gerard blinked and suddenly remembered his promise to his little brother. “You told me we would.” Mikey looked down at the ground, staring at his inward-pointing feet.

Before replying, Gerard hopped out of the chair and charged and Mikey, scooping him up and plopping him into the bed. His brother let out a shocked squeak and flailed his limbs, trying to break free from Gerard’s grasp. Gerard laughed and let go before rolling off the bed and onto the floor. He peered up at his frowning brother from the edge of the bed. “We can do that later, once Frankie leaves!” Gerard vowed, nodding vigorously. Mikey thought about this for a moment and looked like he was going to complain, but he slowly ended up dipping his head in agreement. “Great!” Gerard exclaimed, sitting up and crossing his legs. Frank quickly came over and sat next to his idol, watching him in awe. “What’ll we do today?”

Mikey’s hand immediately shot into the air and he waved it furiously. “We can pretend that we’re getting abducted by aliens!” he proposed, proud of his very unique suggestion.

“You say that all the time!” Gerard complained, shaking his head. “It was fun the first time, Mikey Mike, but it gets boring after a while! And you’re always the Alien Overlord. No fair.” He ignored Mikey’s pout and turned to Frank, tilting his head. “What do you want to do?”

Frank tapped a small finger against his chin as if taking this question into great consideration. He took a while to think and Mikey was about to huff irritably when he burst out with his splendid idea. “We can play Knights!” he announced, looking around at the two of them quite smugly. “Best game. Best game.”

Gerard thought about this for a moment before patting Frank’s head and agreeing. “Nice idea, little buddy! But we need somewhere new to play this game. We always play our games in my room. Where could we go?” He propped his chin up with his hand, mushing his face up as his tiny nose scrunched in focus. Where could they play Frank’s game?

Honestly, Mikey thought that Knights was a stupid game. All they did was run around chasing each other and pretending one knight was better than the other. Abducted by Aliens was so much more fun! He loved being the evil overlord. He sighed and crossed his arms, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Well… Maybe Knights would be more fun if they had somewhere different and new to play it? “We could play it in the woods,” he offered quietly, leaning forward to see his brother’s reaction to that idea.

“Of course!” Gerard exclaimed, nodding at his little brother’s suggestion. “We’ve never played in the woods before. And I’m eight now! I can take care of you guys! I’ll make sure the wolves don’t eat us!” Frank’s eyes widened at the mention of wolves, and Gerard quickly said, “Well, the imaginary ones. There aren’t any wolves in the woods!” Mikey smiled privately to himself now, satisfied with the fact that Gerard had so quickly accepted his thought of playing in the woods. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad.

The boys quickly got up and ready to go into the woods. Frank stood by the door to outside while Gerard and Mikey changed out of their pajamas and into some regular clothing. Mikey went and waited next to his friend while Gerard sought out Mrs. Way. “Momma! We’re going to the woods, okay?” he called, hoping to hear a response from her quickly.

“Alright! Come back before the sun goes down, okay?” she yelled back. Gerard grinned and shouted an okay back to her before bouncing back to Mikey and Frank. “Keep Frank and Mikey in your sights at all time, please!” Of course! He wasn’t going to let his little brother and his best friend get lost in the woods. With their mother’s approval, Gerard opened the door and led the younger boys outside and onto the sidewalk.

Frank quickly gripped Gerard’s hand and looked back at Mikey, who was trailing behind a little bit. He stuck out his pink tongue and taunted, in the way little kids usually do, “I get to hold GeeGee’s hand and you don’t! Na, na, nan a na!” Mikey’s lower lip trembled slightly before he rushed forward and held on to Gerard’s free hand. The brown-haired boy sent a haughty glance to Frank before following closely after Gerard. Gerard giggled and squeezed both of their hands, feeling rather special that his hands were being fought over. How many times did that ever happen to the average person?

They moved quickly on the sidewalk, eager to get to the woods. When they reached the heavily-treed area, the boys stared at it for a moment. “Charge!” Gerard cried, breaking away from the two of them and darting forward. He jumped over a fallen log and spun around, panting and grinning while he waited for Frankie and Mikey. Frank came dashing frantically after his friend, giggling and scrambling over the log. He landed on his back on the other side, blinking at the impact. For a second Gerard thought he was going to cry, but Frank quickly got up and clung on to Gerard’s arm. Mikey didn’t run, but he walked quickly around the fallen tree and over to his brother. Gerard scoffed and pushed him slightly. “You should have jumped over! Frankie was brave and got over it, but you just walked around.” Mikey stared at the leaves drizzled across the ground, hiding his shaking lip again from his older brother. “Come on, guys!” Gerard said with a bright smile, turning and climbing over a bunch of rotting branches and logs. “We need to find a good place to play.”

Frank and Mikey trotted dutifully after Gerard, walking closely together so they wouldn’t lose each other. Gerard eventually stopped in a little clearing with a few fallen trees settled over each other. “This is it!” he declared, nodding in agreement with himself. Frank clutched Gerard’s pants and tugged slightly, whispering that he was scared. “It’s okay, Frankie! I’m going to make sure that nothing happens to you, okay?” Frank nodded, taking his friend’s word to heart. “Now, we need to figure out what is what…”

Gerard picked up a stick and prodded at the fallen trees. After figuring that they were stable enough to climb on, he got on the first tree and steadily walked up its side. “This’ll be the castle!” he decided. He put his hand to his forehead to shield the light from getting in his eyes. There was a tree standing straight up to the side of the little clearing. “That’ll be the peasant’s home.” The boy hopped down and made his way to the tree, then stabbed the stick at it. Bits of bark came off in shards and Gerard ripped off different pieces until there was a nice little tan spot on the tree. “The peasant’s home.”

Turning to Frank and Mikey, Gerard pursed his lips before grinning. “Frank and I will be the knights!” he said, and Frank started hopping in excitement. A knight! Awesome! Gerard had chosen him to be a knight! “Mikey, you can be the peasant.” Mikey’s face fell and his lips curled into a frown.

“Why do I have to be the peasant?” he whined, folding his arms across his chest. “You guys always get to be the knights and I’m the stupid peasant man that’s too dumb to take care of himself!” He was getting upset, his face twisting to keep angry, young tears from spilling over.

Gerard moved quickly over to him, trying to get him to stop being distressed. “Mikey! The peasant man isn’t dumb! He… He just needs a little extra help at doing things. He’s really strong and awesome,” he said, trying to convince Mikey that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Mikey sniffled and wiped his runny nose before taking a long time to think about it. Finally he nodded, swayed to do Gerard’s bidding as he often was. “Great!” Gerard clapped and grinned again. “Now, stay over here. Knight Frank… Knight Franklin and I must plan on how to rescue you!”

“GeeGee, my name isn’t Franklin!” Frank giggled into his hands, looking up at the taller boy as he came over to him. Gerard didn’t respond, but he laughed at the little boy and climbed back up on the tree he deemed his castle. He turned and extended his hand for Frank to grab on to while he climbed up as well. Frank quickly followed and grabbed onto Gerard’s leg, hoping that he wouldn’t fall down. “What if I fall?” he asked, suddenly scared of how far he was up in the air. Gerard looked down at him.

“You won’t fall! I’ll protect you! Now, Frank, what should we do to rescue Peasant Mikey?” the black-haired boy asked, nibbling on a bit of loose skin on his finger. “There’s a big dragon that stole all of our swords, and it’s attacking the peasant’s house!” Frank gasped at this new information. A dragon? Oh no! Poor Mikey; he was all alone and being attacked by a dragon. “How will we fight it without our swords?”

After a little pause, Frank gasped and giggled, “Our fists!” He swung one fist at the air, imagining it connecting with a dragon’s face. It’d never live!

“Brilliant idea!” Gerard praised. They quickly got off of the fallen tree and charged over to Mikey’s tree. The five-year-old watched expectantly as Frank and Gerard swung at an imaginary animal. “Take that!” Gerard yelled, pretending to sock the dragon in the mouth. “And this!”

“What do I get to do?” Mikey said excitedly, clenching his own fists and hopping in place.

“Stay there, Peasant Mikey! We can handle this!” Gerard called. Frank giggled and kicked at the air. When the two of them were over with attacking the invisible dragon, they turned toward each other and did a mock-bow. “I say, dear Franklin, you did a splendid job fighting that beast!” Gerard said dramatically, fighting laughter. Frank giggled and nodded. Gerard grinned at his friend, but that grin quickly evaporated when he realized a vital part of their little group was gone. “Where’s Mikey? Mikey? Mikey!” He looked around anxiously, suddenly afraid. He’d told his momma he’d look after Mikey and Frank? Where was Mikey now? Had he been swooped up and kidnapped when they were fighting a dragon? “Mikey!”

Frank suddenly shushed him and cupped his hands around his ears. Gerard fell silent and listened, and soon enough little sniffling sounds were able to be heard. He sprinted forward and jumped over a few logs before looking around a tree and finding Mikey propped against a tree with his knees tucked to his chest and his arms wrapping around them. The little boy was crying quietly and his face was all red. “Mikey!” Gerard gasped, kneeling down in front of him. Mikey hid his face and wiped his eyes quickly. “Mikey, what’s wrong? Why did you stop playing?”

“You like Frank more than you like me!” he burst out suddenly, voice catching as he started crying more fiercely. “You al-always want to play with hi-him, and you make me the stupid p-peasant! The peasant’s not awesome! He d-doesn’t do anything!” Mikey was hiccupping now as he spoke. “It’s not f-fair! I’m your bro-other! You should like me more!” He pulled up his hands and pressed them into his eyes, blinking rapidly as he pulled them away. “I d-don’t wanna play anymore.”

Gerard wanted to protest and whine at Mikey that no, he didn’t like Frank more, but he remembered that he was now eight, a more mature age than five. Mikey was just sad. “I’m sorry, Mikey,” Gerard whispered, scooting next to his brother and wrapping his skinny arms around him. “I’m sorry. Next time we can all be knights, okay? You and me and Frank. All of us can be brave and special knights! You’ll be the greatest one!” Mikey snuffled and looked up, wiping snot from his nose. “I don’t like Frank more than you. I like both of you just the same! You’re both very special, okay?” The little boy nodded and hugged Gerard back. Frank walked over and tackled them both, feeling left out of their little embrace. They all hugged for a bit before Gerard wiggled out of the pile and stood up.

He looked around just as a flash of orange caught his eye. A fox was scavenging around for food, its muzzle twitching lightly. “Guys!” Gerard whispered, and Frank and Mikey looked where he pointed. “Stay quiet, okay? It’s a fox!” He watched as it poked around the leaves, planning out a way to sketch it later in his mind. The fox suddenly looked over and made eye contact. It turned and bolted. “Let’s go!” Gerard cried, running forward. Frank and Mikey exchanged a look before jumping up and following Gerard.

They followed the fox into the deepest part of the woods, breaking twigs with their brown shoes as they barged after it. Finally it got away, ducking behind a large tangle of fallen vines and escaping their view. “I’m tired, Gee,” Frank whined, sitting promptly down next to a tree. He yawned and leaned against it, his eyes fluttering shut. Gerard looked after where the fox had gone, wanting to follow it again, but knew he had to stay with Frank, especially because the boy was already beginning to snore quietly.

“He fell asleep,” Mikey giggled, over his sadness from earlier. A yawn of his own escaped him and he blinked, feeling tired. Crying often does that to a person, draining their energy. He crawled over to the tree Frank was propped against and curled up next to him, quickly drifting off to sleep. Gerard giggled and squished between them. He placed his arms around the two of them protectively and closed his own eyes, hoping just to relax until one of them woke up.

When Gerard woke up—and he was surprised that he had been sleeping, as that hadn’t been his intention—it was getting darker outside, the sun falling down and shadows beginning to show up more in the woods. He started and sat straight up. Oh no! They should have been home by now! “Mikey, Frank, get up,” Gerard said loudly, shaking both of them. Frank yawned and his eyes blinked open, lighting his sleeping face up. Mikey was tougher to get awake, and Gerard had to shake him for a good minute before he got up. “Come on. We need to get back home now,” he stated.

The boys stood up and Gerard glanced around, his stomach sinking. He didn’t know where they were. When they had chased the fox, they hadn’t been going in any one direction; it had swerved all over the place. “Oh no,” he whispered. He looked down at the hoping Frankie, his eyes certain that Gerard would lead them safely home and to a nice dinner. “Come on, let’s go this way,” he said firmly. He couldn’t let the younger kids know that they were lost in the woods when darkness was approaching.

Gerard led them through the woods, pulling the tired kids over decomposing logs and toward what he hoped was home. They walked for a long time, in fact so long that the sun was almost fully gone. It was harder to see the ground by their feet and Gerard had almost pulled them into a tree a couple of times. “Gerard, we’re lost,” Mikey finally said, voicing Frank’s own fears. “We’re lost in the woods.”

“No, we’re not!” Gerard snapped, looking around helplessly. “We are not lost, Mikey. Don’t worry, Frank. We’re going to be home before you know it!” He dragged them forward and Mikey sighed, his stomach fluttering nervously. If Gerard wouldn’t admit it, it meant they were definitely lost. Completely lost.

They kept walking and the sun finally sank, cloaking them in near pitch black. If it hadn’t been the full moon, Gerard would have lost it and quit right there. Thankfully, a little bit of white light was shining on the ground, illuminating the area a little bit. “I’m scared, GeeGee,” Frank whimpered, digging his nails into Gerard’s pants. “I’m scared because it’s dark!”

“It’s okay, Frankie, alright? We’ll find our way back, I’m sure.” Just as the oldest boy stopped speaking, a rustling noise sounded behind them.

While it was most likely a squirrel or even a harmless raccoon wandering about, Frank immediately screeched, “It’s the wolves and they’re going to EAT ME!” He pulled away from Gerard and shot forward, moving as quickly as bloody possible to get out of there. Gerard frantically went after him, tugging a screaming Mikey along behind him. They nearly flew over different logs in their haste, terrified that whatever had been moving in the woods was right behind them. Mikey was starting to get completely out of breath when Gerard heard a crash from in front of them and a low, pained wail.

“Frankie!” Gerard cried out, rushing forward to the little lump on the ground. Frank was laying and clutching his knee, howling in pain. “What happened, Frankie? What happened?” He rolled Frank over and tugged his hands away from his knee. The boy stiffened as he saw a cut running down his knee cap, blood beginning to well and spill onto his white skin. “Oh, Frankie,” Gerard whispered. He couldn’t do anything about this! There were no Band-Aid stores in the woods! Frank continued bawling and grabbed Gerard, making the older boy pick him up. Blood rubbed off from Frank’s knee and onto the bottom of Gerard’s t-shirt, but he tried to ignore it. As Frank’s sobs resorted to quieted sniffles, Gerard froze as he began to hear broken, frantic gasps. He spun and saw Mikey, eyes wide as possible, sitting with his knees folded up to his chin. He was gasping and trying to breathe normally, but the fear wasn’t allowing him to do so. “Mikey! Breathe!” Gerard commanded, horrified that his brother was going to pass out or something. Mikey gulped and struggled to control his gasps, but there was hardly anything he could do about it.
A familiar stinging sensation entered Gerard’s eyes and he felt the urge to burst into tears. Frankie was injured and Mikey was probably going to pass out in just a couple of moments.

Holding Frank closely, Gerard leaned against a tree and stared at the bark, trying not to cry in front of the little kids. He wanted to go home. He wanted to go home, he wanted to go home, he wanted to go—wait, what was that? Gerard squinted and tried to make out what was on the tree. He gasped and his eyes lit up in recognition. It was the peasant’s home! “Guys!” he cried out, grinning wildly. “Come on! I know where we’re going now!” Though Mikey seriously doubted that and was still trying to breathe regularly, he let Gerard drag him out of the clearing. They moved slower than they had before as Frank had fallen asleep on Gerard’s shoulder and was making it harder to move.

They fought through foliage and Gerard kicked branches out of the way, feeling more hope than he had all day. “So close!” he whispered, walking forward. Suddenly they burst out of the woods and came before a bright scene. Lights were flashing and cars were sitting in the field just before the woods. Gerard poked Frank until he woke and set him down while Mikey stared around at everything.

“Gerard! Mikey!” Mrs. Way came running over to her sons and scooped them up, getting lipstick on their cheeks as she planted sloppy kisses on them. Her eyes were wet from crying in her fear and worry. “I thought you were gone!” she cried. She kept facing the worst case scenario all day; someone had taken them. “Oh god, oh god.” She swept Gerard’s hair back and stared at him. “Where were you? Why didn’t you come home? You scared me so much!”

A police officer walked over and gave each kid a glance. “This your mother, kids?” Mikey nodded furiously and clung on to Mrs. Way, crying out all of his fears. The officer looked down at a dazed Frank. “And his?” Just then, Mrs. Iero came running over, blubbering hysterically.

“Frankie!” she grasped her son and pulled him into a gigantic hug. Frank sniffled and hugged her back, then started crying again because of his injured knee. “Oh honey, don’t you worry. I’ll fix up your leg, okay? I’m so happy you’re alright!” The mothers tended to their kids, assuring them that everything was alright now that they were out of the woods. Gerard finally broke down and sniffled into his mother’s chest, releasing his stress and exhaustion.

“Come on, boys, we’re going home,” Mrs. Way whispered to her sons. Mikey had already drifted off and Gerard slid down, letting his mother carry the younger son home while he trailed along beside her. He just wanted to go to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~*~

A few days later, a familiar knock on the door made Gerard alert. He beamed and shot out of his room, barging for the door and reaching it before his mom had gotten there. His hand grappled with the door handle and he opened it quickly, grinning pleasantly at Mrs. Iero and her son. It was Frankie! They hadn’t seen him for three days. The day after their little venture out into the woods Mikey and Gerard had slept the entire day. The day after that was their punishment: no Frank for a day because they had gone so deep into the woods. Now he was there and they would get to play again!

Frank ran through the door and tackled Gerard, making the older boy unsteady and plop to the ground. He giggled and hugged his friend. “I missed you!” Frank said loudly, sending a glare at his mother. He was obviously not happy that the Ways had been punished and his mother had done nothing to stop it. “Look! Made you something!” The little boy pulled a piece of paper from his backpack and held it up next to his face. It was a goofy-looking picture of Gerard as a knight, but Gerard absolutely loved it despite the fact that his head was three times too big. He took it and hugged Frank again as thanks.

After Mrs. Iero left, Gerard pulled Frank into his room again. They stopped at Mikey’s room before entering, though, and Gerard called out, “Mikey! Frank’s here!” The five-year-old quickly got up and followed after them, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When they got in the older boy’s room, Gerard cleaned off his bed and they all sat on it.

“Look at my Band-Aid!” Frank demanded, sticking out his leg. A dark blue bandage was placed across the area where his cut had been. “Isn’t it great?” he asked. Gerard and Mikey nodded in agreement with his question. Frank smiled and tucked his leg back in, done with showing off.
Gerard waited a minute and looked at his brother. Mikey smiled shyly at him, pushing his new glasses up his nose. His mother had gotten them for him yesterday and he still felt like they were too awkward. Gerard grinned and patted his leg reassuringly. He looked at each of them and asked, “So, what are we gonna do today?”

Frank and Mikey looked at each other before turning to Gerard and yelling, “WE’RE NOT GOING INTO THE WOODS!”