FicWad

Mikey held Wynne's hand as they walk down the dirt path back to the Way's house, halfway listening to Frank ramble on excitedly about the baseball game that had aired on the night before. The boy's eyes lit up as he spoke, using his hands to illustrate his story.

Wynne laughed quietly as Frank started walking backwards in front of her, almost stumbling with each step. His voice lowered with each passing second, building suspense before he suddenly jumped up and shouted to the sky in happiness. Frank was grinning wildly, laughing as if he couldn't stop. Wynne giggled along with him, his antics hysterical.

"Gosh, I wish I coulda seen that, Frankie..." she mused, her voice still as timid as a small child's. Mikey chuckled to himself and squeezed her hand.

"It was pretty good. You woulda laughed your ass off at most of it, though", Mikey said, smiling down at her. Wynne looked up at him and held his gaze, her eyes soft.

Frank groaned. "Are ya kiddin' me? Pretty good? You crazy or somethin', Mikes?"

Mikey shrugged, glancing down at the ground. "No, I ain't crazy. I just don't like baseball that much, is all it is."

Frank's eyes widened and he shook his head in disbelief. "Now that's just un-American..."

Mikey stared at him and opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Wynne looked in between the two boys for a moment. "But isn't football more of an American sport?" she asked quietly.

Frank seemed appalled by her remark and began to ramble on about the history of baseball in America. Mikey groaned almost silently, but listened to his friend's extremely opinionated views on sports.

Wynne smiled and looked up at Mikey. "Don't worry. We're almost to your house anyway."

Frank didn't hear her and continued talking about how dangerous football was, as opposed to the safety of baseball. The back of the Way's house came in to view, and Mikey quickly gestured to Frank that he should shut up.

Considering his older brother was sitting on the back porch studying, Mikey knew it was better not to disturb him. Gerard was desperately trying to keep his grades up in the few hours that he didn't have a bottle in his hand or a hangover destroying his sanity... as if it hadn't dwindled to barely a shred anyway.

Mikey had also quickly realized that Gee didn't like his friends, so he tried to keep encounters to the minimum. And even though Frank was trying his hardest to be quiet, he wasn't doing a very good job. His voice still rang out, ensuring that even though it would be quiet for the most part, Gerard would still be able to hear him.

Wynne noticed the agitation on Mikey's face and also motioned for Frank to be quiet. The boy nodded, but still found it hard to shut up due to his energetic disposition. Sneaking through the trees that bordered the Way's backyard, Gerard came into Wynne's view.

It always surprised her how much he reminded her of Mikey when she wasn't paying attention. Their eyes looked so alike, as did their facial structure. Every little action was a dead give away that even though their relationship wasn't the closest, they were still brothers.

Mikey tapped her on the shoulder, pulling her back for a moment. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Frank left his hat at the park and he wants me to go with him to get it", Mikey said, chuckling quietly. "Just walk through the backyard and stay next to the fence. The front door should be open."

Wynne nodded, turning towards the gate. She paused and turned back to say something to Mikey, but he was already jogging down the path, trying to keep up with Frank. She silently opened up the gate, slipping through the small gap before shutting it again.

Gerard didn't seem to notice her presence yet, and she mentally hoped it would stay that way. There was something behind his hazel eyes that weren't in Mikey's. She wasn't sure exactly what that 'something' was, but it set her nerves on edge.

Wynne walked cautiously next to the fence, staying as quiet as possible. She kept her eyes on Gerard, making sure he was actually reading and not just staring at the pages, impatiently waiting for her to leave.

Within seconds, her fears were confirmed as his gaze slowly drifted upward, meeting her eyes. Wynne started, tearing her focus away from him and onto quickly walking the next twenty feet to the other gate that led to the side of the house.

He continued to stare at her, quirking his eyebrow at her boldness. None of his brother's friends bothered him while he was studying. The girl that was in front of him had been the first.

Gerard didn't mind, in fact he'd rather have a distraction for a few minutes than have to keep reading. He grabbed his bookmark and silently slid it into the pages of his book before closing it.

Wynne noticed his action out of the corner of her eye and very clumsily stumbled forward, reaching for the latch on the gate. Her fingers missed, though, and her balance disappeared. Yelping, Wynne ungracefully fell face first into the gate, falling back onto the grass.

Gerard was on his feet in seconds, rushing over to the girl to help her up. "Are you alright?", he asked, genuinely concerned. There was a small cut on her forehead from where the metal gate had scraped her skin, and it caused a trickle of blood to slowly run down the side of her face.

Wynne tried to shy away from him, but at the moment, her head was spinning and she was really in need of help when it came to balancing herself. Gerard held out a hand to her, but she flinched away from him. He didn't take offense, he was just surprised.

Without a single word, Wynne brushed the dirt off of the front of her jeans and unlatched the gate, walking through it and quickly closing it again. under normal circumstances, she would have welcomed the help, but there was just something about those eyes...

Wynne could see it then, as he sat before her. Yes, the resemblance to Mikey was disturbingly strong. If she tore her eyes away from him, she was sure she would see Mikey instead of his brother. She was terrified. But she couldn't look away.

Those same eyes still held that look that she couldn't place, and it unsettled her in the deepest of ways. Wynne didn't want to turn away from him for one second. She didn't trust him, even if there was nothing to trust him with.

Gerard seemed to have to same problem with not looking in her direction, but she knew it was most certainly for a different reason than hers. He wasn't listening to Frank ramble on either, but at least she was positive her reasoning was good. She wasn't so sure about his.

She felt a pang in her chest as the familiar heartache returned. He looked so much like Mikey...

Gerard, on the other hand, was wondering what was so perplexing about himself that she felt she needed to stare at him with all of her concentration. He was only trying to remember where they had met, because it seemed to be one of those things that just drifted off with time. The age difference between himself and his younger brother meant the odds of him actually knowing the girl were very slim.

He wouldn't let this faze him, of course. He would figure it out eventually. And when he did, it would change everything for the two of them. He just didn't know that tiny detail quite yet.


Aghhh... I'm building this up so slowly... I'm gonna drive myself crazy with this story and it's plot line xD