FicWad

Gerard lay on top of his unmade bed staring at the ceiling. His quiet, even breathing did not give away the fierce and confused thoughts whirling around his brain, barring his way from sleep. His face was thin and unnaturally pale, contrasting heavily with the dark purple marks under his eyes. He hadn’t slept in over three weeks and despite drinking multiple cups of coffee every morning, the effects were beginning to show.

He was worried; worried about Kat, about Mikey and about his own sanity. Ever since his father left, the shit started to build up. Donna fell into depression; he got bullied ruthlessly at school, day in and day out. And his mom couldn’t help him because she could barely help herself. Elena was the only reason the Way family kept afloat.
And Kat’s mom had just passed away. He felt sorry for his cousin and all time best friend. They did everything together when they lived in the same neighbourhood.
Before Mikey came along, they were joined at the hip; throwing mud-pies at Mrs. Pickett’s front windows, sneaking worms and snails into the salads at family gatherings.
Mikey had made Gerard so much more mature and Kat got left behind in her child-like fantasies. She had never really grown up and Gerard was worried about how she was taking her mother’s death.

Everything swarmed around his head at a blinding pace, the hurtful comments of the bullies jabbing at his throbbing brain cells, ringing in his ears. Music just didn’t help anymore. He tried to tune into Mikey’s even snoring from the next room to distract him but the loud buzzing in his head just wouldn’t go away.
He rolled over and glanced wearily at the fluorescent display of his digital alarm clock.
03.09am
“Well, fuck…” muttered, dreading the sluggish hours that lay ahead as he counted the hours until it was an acceptable time to get up.

He sighed wearily and rolled onto his back once more. Just as he was getting reasonably comfortable again, Gerard yelped suddenly and rolled off his bed onto the cluttered floor.
Uttering a string of violent curses, he staggered to his feet rubbing the back of his head. He ripped the blankets off his bed to reveal his cell phone perched at a weird angle on the thin mattress, playing ‘Barbie Girl,’ insistently at top volume.
He ground his jaw with murderous thoughts towards Mikey as he lay back down precariously on the bare mattress, still rubbing the back of his head where he fell onto the jutting edge of a discarded Misfits CD.

He flipped up the top half of his ancient phone and scanned the caller ID briefly before putting it to his ear.

“Hello?”
“Hey Geeface,” greeted Kat brightly from the other end of the line.
“Kat? The fuck are you calling for at this time of night?”
“Eh I dunno. Couldn’t wait for morning,” he smiled slightly to himself at the excitement in her voice.
“What couldn’t wait? I need my beauty sleep. And I know you know that,” he replied, feigning annoyance and irritability.
“Gerard. You weren’t asleep.”
“I so was!” he cried indignantly.
“Oh really now?” Kat chuckled darkly.
“Asfrbgff- course I was.” He yawned loudly into the mouthpiece.
“Didn’t think so. My mom coulda done better than that while she was high as fuck. I’m not buying it.”
“Ugh, fine. I was awake,” he gave in, his intense worrying springing to the front of his mind once more. “How are you?”
“Gee, I’m fine. More than fine; I’m GREAT,” she squealed.
“Umm Kat, you just squealed. Also what do you mean?”
“Aw Gee, come on. I’m allowed to be excited!”
“Okay, I’m lost,”
“I’M COMING BACK TO TOWN!”
“NO WAY OHMYGOD I NEED TO GO TELL MIKEY! HANG ON THERE,” he yelled, leaping up off his bed, shoving his flimsy door open and bombarding into Mikey’s room, flicking on the light switch as he went
“MIKEY! MIKEY! MIKEY! MIKEY! KATS COMING BACK TO BELLVILLE!” he screamed, jumping violently all over Mikey's sleeping form.
“THE FUCK GEE? GET OFF!” Mikey roared, shoving Gerard off the bed.
“Fine I won’t tell you what Kat said…” he picked himself up off the floor and put the phone to his ear, turning his back on his younger brother.
“So Kat, when you moving back?” he asked loudly, greeted by a soft giggling sound coming down the line.

“Put it on loudspeaker to annoy Mikey.”
Gerard grinned, “Hell yeah sister,” he muttered hitting the button. “DONE!!” he yelled down the phone.
The voice of their cousin filled Mikey's cluttered room, “So as I was saying Gerard, I’m moving in with my dad tomorrow!”A sudden shuffling noise erupted behind Gerard.
“KAT’S MOVING BACK TO NEW JERSEY TOMORROW?!” Mikey screamed incredulously, leaping out of bed onto Gerard’s back. Gerard and Kat broke into loud peals of laughter as Mikey wrestled the phone out of Gerard's grasp.
After successfully hijacking Gerard's phone, Mikey holed himself up in the corner of his room harassing Kat over the phone. Gerard sighed fondly and threw himself down on Mikey’s bed, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.

Kat was coming back and that meant hell. But Gerard still didn’t understand something. Kat sounded so happy. He wasn’t a sadistic bastard who hated people’s happiness, but her mom had just died. Something had happened. Something made her anticipate her mother’s death. Gerard was inclined to think that the years of absence may not have been all fun and games for their badass cousin and he could only hope she wasn’t dead inside.

Like he was…