FicWad

With two drinks in my hand, I walked out of my friend Hannah's kitchen and into the living room. Her 17th birthday party was in full swing. It was a warm evening in July, and school was out for summer. We all couldn't be happier.

I scanned the room for Mikey, my closest friend, and found him chatting with some people from our school. I handed him one of the drinks and squeezed into the tiny space left on the couch. My petite frame fit perfectly beside his tall, lanky one.

Mikey Way and I have been best friends since we were five. He and his older brother, Gerard, live on the street next to mine, only a two minute walk away. Mikey introduced me to his friend Frank Iero when we were younger. Frank has always been a bit of a loose cannon. I grew incredibly close to Mikey and Frank over the years we've known each other. There have never been any romantic ties between me and either of the guys. Just friends. The three musketeers. Or the three blind mice.

"Enjoying the party, Ari?" Mikey asked as he took a sip of his beer.

"Yeah... It's so fun!" My head was a little cloudy from the beers but I wasn't drunk. "Have you seen Frank around? I lost him a while ago..."

"Nope, the last time I saw him was when he was with Zacky and Gerard in the garden... Want to go find him?"

"Yes sir, to the garden!" I giggled. Mikey stood up and held his hands out to pull me up. He steadied me when I stumbled a little and I flattened down the floaty skirt of my black dress.

The party wasn't the typical crazy high school parties you hear about. Yes, there was a lot of people there, drinking and smoking. But it definitely wasn't nuts. Hannah threatened everyone as they came in the door: if they done anything stupid, there would be trouble. It was a lot more menacing than that though. Hannah wasn't the type of girl you would mess with.

I had known Hannah since I was about twelve, and then I met her small group of friends - Zacky, Lily and Adam. My friends - Mikey, Frank, Gerard, Ray Toro and Bob Bryar - and Hannah's friends got along very well, and we were all very close.

Mikey and I went through the kitchen and into the huge garden, where the majority of the people at the party were. Gerard, Ray and Bob were chatting with some people from their year, Zacky was with his girlfriend, Danni, and Hannah was trying to stop Lily and Adam from pushing her into the pool. We scanned the garden for any signs of Frank, and didn't find him. There was a loud knock at the kitchen window behind us.

"Hey guys!" It was Frank, waving ferociously at us with one hand and somehow holding two beers in the other. He came through the patio doors towards us, stumbling slightly but still keeping his cheesy grin on his face. "What;s up?"

"Just making sure you're not causing any trouble," I winked at him.

"Me?! Why would you even think that, Ari? I'm a good boy," He stuck out his lower lip and batted his eyes at me. The cute look disappeared from his face when the pool caught his eye, and a mischievous look replaced it. "I think I hear a dive bomb calling me. My time is here."

"Frank... you'll get soaked... and you'll have to go through the rest of the party in wet clothes." Mikey tried to talk Frank out of it, but I really wanted to see him do it. Not because I doubted him - I knew he was being serious - but because it would be hilarious.

"Go for it, Frankie. Mikey just likes ruining your fun," I bumped Mikey's hip with mine.

"Okay, I'm gonna do it. Do the honour of holding my beers, Miss Ariana?" He handed me his beers before I could say 'okay', and backed away from us. Mikey and I moved out of the way so he could get a good run and jump into the pool.

Most people in the general area of the pool saw what Frank was doing or overheard our conversation and moved out of his way as well, but there was still some people very close to the pool. Namely, Zacky and his girlfriend.

It really was quite dramatic. When I think back to it, I play it in slow motion in my head. It makes it seem a little less serious, quite funny even.

Frank started to run, a little wobbly, but still running, his arms outstretched like some sort of weird, drunken fairy. People began chanting "Frank! Frank Frank!". Zacky and Danni, who had previously been oblivious to all of this, now turned around just in time for one of Frank's 'wings' to clip Danni's arm.

Now if Danni wasn't slightly drunk, she wouldn't have fell backwards into the pool just as Frank shouted "CANNONBALL!" She probably would have regained her balance. It wasn't all Frank's fault. Why stand right beside a pool at a party? Stupid idea.

Zacky looked furious, shouting "What the fuck?!", just as everyone else was either laughing or standing awkwardly, unsure or whether to laugh or help Danni. My friends were laughing - none of us were too keen on Danni. But we didn't want her to drown.

Frank resurfaced, still wearing that cute grin on his dripping face and paddled over to the side of the pool and hauled himself out, his t-shirt sticking to him. Danni popped up as well, her make up running down her face and her hair ruined. Zacky stood at the side of the pool and helped pull her out. He then stomped over to Frank, who was shaking his hair out like a dog would, and pushed him in his chest.

"Why do that, man? What the fuck?!" Zacky pointed at a dripping wet Danni, who was standing with a few of her friends, helping her wipe off her ruined make up.

"Oh... sorry Danni..." Frank called out to her, but she just scowled and gave him the finger in return. "It was an accident! I wouldn't push you into the pool... not on purpose anyway..." Frank defended himself.

Zacky pushed Frank again. "You're a fucking moron. Why do you gotta do stupid shit like this all the time?!"

"Fuck off, man, I just do it for fun! Not like you would know how to have a bit of fun, with a girlfriend like that." Frank was getting cocky, and none of us tried to stop him. Danni was seriously no fun. She wanted to keep Zacky all for herself, and we were all sick of it. A crowd had gathered around them now, with people coming outside to watch.

"That's it, fuck you, Iero!" Zacky jumped on Frank, pinning him to the ground. Both boys were throwing punches at each other, and Frank managed to roll them over so he was straddling Zacky. It sounds cute but it really wasn't.

None of us wanted to get involved in the actual fight, and we thought they would stop and realise they were both being silly. But they didn't stop. Frank's nose was burst, with blood trailing down and into his mouth. Zacky was definitely going to have a black eye, and he had cuts on his forehead. The 'spectators' around them were egging them on, which wasn't helping anything. Zacky kicked Frank's stomach hard and I winced and yelled "Stop!", but he done it again.

I didn't want to watch one of my best friends getting hurt like that, so I ran to Zacky and tackled him to the ground somehow, but he pushed me off him roughly and stood up, and I landed hard on my back onto the hard concrete and yelled out in pain.

Frank saw this and sat up, clutching his stomach. "Don't fucking touch her!" He screamed at Zacky, and yanked on his leg so he tumbled back onto the ground. The fighting continued as I lay there on ground beside them for a few seconds. My back was in serious pain and I didn't think I could get up.

Mikey stood there, frozen on the spot with fear, looking at me with wide eyes. He was moved out of the way by Bob, with Ray and Gerard behind him. Bob pulled Frank from Zacky and held him with his arms behind his back, as Ray did the same to Zacky. They were both screaming abuse at each other while Ray and Bob did their best to control them. I wasn't focusing on what they were saying.

I was focusing on strong arms carefully lifting me up from the ground. My head laying on a shoulder. My legs over an arm, my back being held up by another.. Black hair tickling my face.

I looked over the shoulder and the crowd had dissipated. The drama was over. At least, I thought it was.

I was sat down on a lawn chair, and I looked up into the face of Gerard Way, Mikey's very handsome older brother, and another of my close friends.

"Are you okay, Ari?"

"I'm... I'm fine... my back hurts... but I think it'll be okay. Thank you, Gerard..."

"It's no problem at all, someone had to help the damsel in distress, and I thought I'd have a go at being the knight in shining armour," He smirked down at me, and I laughed at him trying to make light of the situation.

"Where did Bob take Frank, did you see where they went?" I asked him.

"I think they went inside, probably to the bathroom to get Frank cleaned up. You wanna go find him?" I nodded, and he took me hand to help me up. Handsome Gerard holding my hand? Butterflies exploded in my stomach. He continued holding my hand until we got to Hannah's upstairs bathroom. Speaking of Hannah, I could hear her yelling at anyone who would listen. She was most definitely mad.

Gerard let go of my hand and I knocked on the bathroom door.

"Frank..?" I spoke quietly.

"Yeah Ari... I'm in here", I heard him sigh loudly through the door. I pushed it open to see him sitting on the toilet seat, while Bob tried to wash his face up.

"Want me to take over being his nurse, Bob?" I asked with a small smile.

"It's my pleasure, Ari. Dude has a lot of blood." Bob shook his head as he and Gerard sat on the edge of the bathtub. I knelt down between Frank's legs as he looked at me with that same look from earlier - the stuck out bottom lip and wide eyes.

"Oh Frank... you're silly. But I love you. And Danni is no fun, you're right." I grinned at him, as he held his hand up for a high-five. I slapped his hand with mine, and started to clean up his face for him.

"Zacky was being a dick... it was an accident! You know it was, Ari..."

"I do know, and you're right again. Zacky was mean. How's your stomach? That looked awful..."

"It was awful... it still hurts a little, but it's not serious. How's your back? I'm so sorry for not helping you, but I was a little busy kicking some ass." He winked at me and I knew he was joking,

"My back is fine..." I looked over at Gerard and gave him a little smile. "And it's okay Frankie."

I knew Frank couldn't help me or he'd have gotten his ass kicked even more. That was okay. But other things weren't okay after that night. The four of us found Mikey and Ray and we left Hannah's house, and went to Frank's to stay the night. That was our usual plan for after parties.

But this felt different. We were all tense. My back was sore. Frank's face and stomach was sore. Everyone's brains were sore from replaying the night over and over again.

Our close group of friend's was split in two after that night - my friends taking Frank's side, of course, and Hannah's friends taking Zacky's side.

I tried to not take sides, I really did. But I couldn't betray Frank, even if he didn't mind if I was Switzerland. I'm loyal to my friends and I know where I belong.

That doesn't mean that I like this rift.