Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > In Too Deep
Author's note: You guuuuuys! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and rated the first chapter. To express my thanks, have a super long chapter. :)
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Once Gerard and Mikey had both uploaded pictures to their dating profiles, it didn’t take long for the messages to come flooding it, though it was fair to say they both dealt with them in very different ways. While Gerard barely paid any attention to what the message actually said, instead taking one look at the picture and deleting the message if they didn’t appear to be young or attractive enough, Mikey had a more meticulous method. He carefully read through each word, weighing it up, checking for any hidden meaning behind it. Then, if he deemed the message satisfactory, he would look at their profile to see if they appeared genuine. The whole thing was incredibly laborious whereas Gerard’s method took about five seconds though it was fair to say that they ended up with the same results; after two weeks, neither of them had replied to a single message.
While Mikey was quite content with this, his nerves completely debilitating him when it came to plucking up the courage to actually message someone, Gerard’s patience was quickly wearing thin. He didn’t join the stupid website to have creepy people send him messages. He joined it to actually try to build a relationship with someone and, unless he started getting results soon, he was going to just throw the whole thing in.
He could already hear Frank whining in his ear about how he didn’t even try. No, it was time for evasive action.
On a day when he didn’t have to go to his job in a local music store until the early afternoon, Gerard decided that he might as well do something productive with his morning. It was this decision which led to the man slouching across his sofa, feet propped up on a nearby table, laptop resting on his legs and a large mug of coffee grasped in one hand. Taking a sip of the drink, letting the earthy liquid flow down his throat, he took a moment to savour it before getting to work.
He clicked on the search selection on the website, instantly arching an eyebrow at all the different options there were. Could you really search for someone based on their hair colour? Was anyone really that shallow? Choosing to ignore some of the pettier options, he clicked men and chose an age range of 21 to 30. He did briefly consider lowering to 20, so he had a nice round range of ten years, though decided against it – 20 years old was barely out of teen years and that just made him feel all kinds of weird. Selecting the distance from his home was a little more challenging; it caused him to sit and consider just how far he would be prepared to travel if he were to meet someone. He decided to go with a relatively small distance of a 40 mile radius. It worse came to worse and there really was no one any closer, he could always expand his range.
Clicking go!, he watched as pages and pages of matched appeared. There really were an awful lot of desperate people out there. Gerard tried to ignore the fact that he was currently classed as one of them. He began to scroll down the first pages, double taking at some of the more inappropriate pictures, arching his eyebrow at some of the biographies and outright laughing at others. “Fun lover looking for someone willing to have a good time. ;)” Who in their right mind was really going to respond to that?! If he wanted someone like that, he could go to any club in town and have a handful of choices.
After fruitlessly searching through five pages, Gerard was close to giving up. All he’d looked through was page after page of douchebags. He was quickly coming to wonder whether the whole most-successful-relationships-ever-in-the-history-of-forever thing was just a marketing scam. It certainly wouldn’t surprise him. Vowing he would only waste his time looking through one more page, it was the second to last profile which caught his eye. It was the picture he noticed first; a young man was staring back at him, soft brown hair straightened and styled so it fell carefully across one eye, the faintest hints of black eyeliner smudged around wide, innocent eyes, framed by thick rimmed glasses. The picture stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the others he'd looked at. A small, cute smile hidden between pages and pages of shirtless men, ridiculous six packs and fake tans. If the picture alone hadn't been incentive enough to send the man a message, then the small biography besides it certainly was.
"If I'm honest, I'm not entirely sure what I should be writing here. It's supposed to be about who I am, what I like, what I don't; I'd never realised how difficult it is to write about yourself. I guess if you said I was shy it would be a complete understatement. The only reason I'm on this website is that I find it far too difficult to talk to people in person. It was actually my friend who suggested that I joined. As far as hobbies go, I play the bass guitar. I suppose that I'm looking for a guy who isn't put off by how quiet I am. A love of music is definitely a plus."
A smile curved to Gerard's lips as he read the words, a smile which only widened when his gaze moved to look at the name of the man. Mikey. It was as if this Mikey had gotten into his head and figured out exactly what he wanted in a guy, before putting it into words. In Gerard's mind the word 'shy' immediately translated, whether rightly or wrongly, to 'freaking adorable'. He'd always maintained that he had enough confidence for two in any relationship he was in, making going out with someone who was equally confident somewhat of a chore. Clicking on the button to reply, he set to writing a message which wouldn't have Mikey running away in fear.
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Singing along to the Anthrax CD he had blasting from the speakers on full volume, Mikey barely heard the dull ping! emitted from his laptop, telling him that he had an email. Just catching the end of the noise though as there was a moment of silence when the song changed, he glanced towards the computer, almost being able to guess what the message said.
He was right.
Ever since joining that dating website two weeks ago, his inbox had been repeatedly flooded with messages from people, all of which went on about how well they thought the pair of them would get on. There had been the odd one which had potential, though it hadn't taken him long to think of a reason not to reply. It was incredibly unproductive when it came to starting a relationship with anyone. He knew it and knew it well, though he couldn't bring himself to stop it. Perhaps this person would be different.
He didn't have high hopes.
Sitting himself down at the table which the laptop rested on, he opened the message in his inbox on the website, quickly frowning as he did so. It took barely a second for him to realise that this message wasn't like all the others he'd received. There was nothing in this words presented to him which hinted at an attempt to get him into bed as soon as possible. Instead, it was as if the man was talking to him as a friend.
Hey, Mikey. I feel your pain - my friend suggested that I joined this website, too. Actually, forced is probably a more accurate term. Apparently I scare people away with my weirdness. Can you imagine that? I don't know why he thinks that sticking me behind a computer screen would make it any different. I'm sure I can scare enough people away with my typed-weirdness as I can my voiced-weirdness. If I wasn't so worried about the whining I'd have to endure from him, I'd definitely do an experiment - see how many people I can scare away and how quickly. If you're still reading this then I reckon you've done better than most. Here, have a virtual cookie! :) Anyway, it's pretty awesome that you play bass! I can play a little guitar...also known as a banjo. Hah! Geddit? No, but seriously. I'm much more of a singer than I am a guitarist and I've definitely got the love of music thing checked. I actually work in a music shop, a couple of towns over from where I live. Honestly, you would not believe some of the crap people ask for! If I have one more teenage girl asking when the next Justin Bieber album is out, I'm going to put some screamo in the shop CD player, turn all the lights off and make it so scary they'll be too terrified to come in.
And if you've made it to this point then you deserve a whole box of virtual cookies! I hope that you write back but no worries if you don't - god knows that I've ignored enough messages from creeps. Hopefully hear from you soon,
Gerard. :)
Unlike all the other messages he'd received which made him cringe, this message brought a noticeable smile curving to one corner of his lips and at times actually made him laugh out loud. Looking at the picture which Gerard had uploaded, the smile remained firmly on his face; the picture was of a pale man with jet black hair wearing a crooked smile and heavy black eyeliner. Mikey wasn’t one for judging a book by its cover, though if he were to make a habit of it he knew that he’d approve of this particular cover.
Pushing his chair away from the table, he continued with his tidying, knowing full well that it would be at least a couple of hours before he managed to gather the courage to even think about working on a reply.
He chose not to think about how long the actual writing of it would take.
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“So, how many people have you busted a move on yet?”
The hours had dragged by at the shop, Gerard and Frank spending most of the afternoon with the younger man plucking a few chords and Gerard singing along. Once they’d gotten bored of that though, it had taken Frank about ten whole minutes to turn the conversation to the dating website.
Shaking his head, Gerard pulled a face. "No one. Do you have any idea how many creeps are on the internet? Seriously, I've had so many guys message me that are old enough to be my dad. It's just so weird, mate."
Frank laughed at that, clearly far more amused that he should have been, though it was hardly surprising - after all, it was him who had forced Gerard on the website in the first place. "You ain't messaged anyone at all then? Seriously, you're lucky I didn't put a time limit on how long it took you to get a date, because you would be losing."
The older man rolled his eyes at that, long since used to Frank's teasing. Far too used to it to let it bother him anymore. "Actually, I messaged this guy this morning. He's dead cute, so hopefully he'll reply." He really hoped that Mikey would reply, though he had a sneaky suspicion that his weirdness shone through as bright as always. If it scared off people with more confidence than they knew what to do then he dreaded to think what it did to someone who openly admitted that they were shy.
"No way?! C'mon, you gotta show me what he looks like!" Before Gerard had chance to think of an excuse not to show him, Frank had moved the work laptop in front of them both and was already typing the address of the dating website.
"We're gonna have to clear the history after this..." His murmured words were a half hearted attempt at swaying Frank. He knew it was useless though. When Frank got an idea into his head, there was absolutely nothing that anyone could do to stop him. It was the nagging about the website all over again.
Frank waved a hand dismissively as the page loaded. "Pschh, don't worry about that! We'll clear the history and then click like mad on music websites and shit." Turning the laptop towards Gerard, he grinned at him, obviously waiting for him to log on.
Knowing it was no good trying to resist, Gerard simply sighed in resignation and logged on. His defeated attitude quickly dissipated into nothing though when a box popped up on screen, telling him he had a new message from one Mikey Williams.
Frank was looking over his shoulder, gasping loudly before he had a chance to register what was happening. "Oh, is that him?! Has he replied?! Quick quick, click on it! Lemme see what he looks like!"
He briefly wondered how offended Frank would be if he grabbed the laptop and ran to hide in the back room until he'd read the message and seen whether it was actually a good thing that he'd replied or not. It would never work though. Frank would literally break down the door if he thought there was something he was missing out on. Hoping that Mikey wouldn't make a fool out of him, he clicked on the message and both men began to read it frantically, noses almost pressed against the screen.
Hey Gerard. :) Thanks for your message. You're actually the first person I've replied to on here - I totally get where you're coming from with the whole creeps thing. I don't know how some of those people think that writing that sort of thing is going to get them anywhere. But hey, no skin off my nose. I'm glad I'm not the only person who can't stand up to their friends. I know that he meant well, but still, it's kind of embarrassing. Just the whole dating website thing. Seems kind of lame, you know? I don't think you seem all that weird. Hyper, maybe, but I'm sure there's far weirder people out there than you...most of which seem to be on this website.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit jealous of your job. It sounds far better than mine. I'm the 'administrative assistant' at my step-dad's company. Basically, I'm his secretary. I don't think it could be any more boring if it tried, but I suppose it pays the bills and all that. On the plus side, there's never a teenage girl in sight and I don't think Justin Bieber has ever been mentioned, unless you count a group of fifty year olds complaining how annoying he is.
I don't know why you seem so surprised that I made it to the end of your message, but I'll be more than happy to take that box of virtual cookies off your hands. Though if you've made it this far I suppose you probably deserve something back. How about we call it quits and just share them?
Mikey. :)
"Mate!" Frank cried the second he'd finished reading, luck being the only thing which meant that Gerard had already finished. "You have totally pulled! Let me see his picture." Leaning over Gerard's shoulder just that bit further, the younger man double clicked in the profile picture, smiling when it popped up to cover half the screen. "You're right; he is dead cute." Noticing the look he received from Gerard, he pulled a face. "What? He is!"
"Are you sure you're straight?" Worryingly enough, it wasn't the first time the question had been asked.
"100%. But seriously, you're so in there. You've got to reply to him, like, right now."
Snorting in amusement, Gerard shook his head. "There is no way I'm replying to him with you breathing down my neck."
Having the gall to look offended, Frank stuck his nose in the air indignantly. "What? I'm dead romantic." Clearing his throat dramatically, the shorter man straightened up and held one hand out in front of him, as though what he was about to say was of great importance. "'Dearest Mikey. Thank you so much for your message. It brought me great happiness, so much so that I insist we meet up and copulate most passionately at the first opportunity.'"
If Gerard hadn't punched his friend in the shoulder, he would have been willing to put money on the fact that Frank's little speech would have gotten a whole lot worse before it got better. He logged off the website and closed down the laptop, knowing that if the hours had dragged by before then they were pretty much going to stand still now.
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Once Gerard and Mikey had both uploaded pictures to their dating profiles, it didn’t take long for the messages to come flooding it, though it was fair to say they both dealt with them in very different ways. While Gerard barely paid any attention to what the message actually said, instead taking one look at the picture and deleting the message if they didn’t appear to be young or attractive enough, Mikey had a more meticulous method. He carefully read through each word, weighing it up, checking for any hidden meaning behind it. Then, if he deemed the message satisfactory, he would look at their profile to see if they appeared genuine. The whole thing was incredibly laborious whereas Gerard’s method took about five seconds though it was fair to say that they ended up with the same results; after two weeks, neither of them had replied to a single message.
While Mikey was quite content with this, his nerves completely debilitating him when it came to plucking up the courage to actually message someone, Gerard’s patience was quickly wearing thin. He didn’t join the stupid website to have creepy people send him messages. He joined it to actually try to build a relationship with someone and, unless he started getting results soon, he was going to just throw the whole thing in.
He could already hear Frank whining in his ear about how he didn’t even try. No, it was time for evasive action.
On a day when he didn’t have to go to his job in a local music store until the early afternoon, Gerard decided that he might as well do something productive with his morning. It was this decision which led to the man slouching across his sofa, feet propped up on a nearby table, laptop resting on his legs and a large mug of coffee grasped in one hand. Taking a sip of the drink, letting the earthy liquid flow down his throat, he took a moment to savour it before getting to work.
He clicked on the search selection on the website, instantly arching an eyebrow at all the different options there were. Could you really search for someone based on their hair colour? Was anyone really that shallow? Choosing to ignore some of the pettier options, he clicked men and chose an age range of 21 to 30. He did briefly consider lowering to 20, so he had a nice round range of ten years, though decided against it – 20 years old was barely out of teen years and that just made him feel all kinds of weird. Selecting the distance from his home was a little more challenging; it caused him to sit and consider just how far he would be prepared to travel if he were to meet someone. He decided to go with a relatively small distance of a 40 mile radius. It worse came to worse and there really was no one any closer, he could always expand his range.
Clicking go!, he watched as pages and pages of matched appeared. There really were an awful lot of desperate people out there. Gerard tried to ignore the fact that he was currently classed as one of them. He began to scroll down the first pages, double taking at some of the more inappropriate pictures, arching his eyebrow at some of the biographies and outright laughing at others. “Fun lover looking for someone willing to have a good time. ;)” Who in their right mind was really going to respond to that?! If he wanted someone like that, he could go to any club in town and have a handful of choices.
After fruitlessly searching through five pages, Gerard was close to giving up. All he’d looked through was page after page of douchebags. He was quickly coming to wonder whether the whole most-successful-relationships-ever-in-the-history-of-forever thing was just a marketing scam. It certainly wouldn’t surprise him. Vowing he would only waste his time looking through one more page, it was the second to last profile which caught his eye. It was the picture he noticed first; a young man was staring back at him, soft brown hair straightened and styled so it fell carefully across one eye, the faintest hints of black eyeliner smudged around wide, innocent eyes, framed by thick rimmed glasses. The picture stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the others he'd looked at. A small, cute smile hidden between pages and pages of shirtless men, ridiculous six packs and fake tans. If the picture alone hadn't been incentive enough to send the man a message, then the small biography besides it certainly was.
"If I'm honest, I'm not entirely sure what I should be writing here. It's supposed to be about who I am, what I like, what I don't; I'd never realised how difficult it is to write about yourself. I guess if you said I was shy it would be a complete understatement. The only reason I'm on this website is that I find it far too difficult to talk to people in person. It was actually my friend who suggested that I joined. As far as hobbies go, I play the bass guitar. I suppose that I'm looking for a guy who isn't put off by how quiet I am. A love of music is definitely a plus."
A smile curved to Gerard's lips as he read the words, a smile which only widened when his gaze moved to look at the name of the man. Mikey. It was as if this Mikey had gotten into his head and figured out exactly what he wanted in a guy, before putting it into words. In Gerard's mind the word 'shy' immediately translated, whether rightly or wrongly, to 'freaking adorable'. He'd always maintained that he had enough confidence for two in any relationship he was in, making going out with someone who was equally confident somewhat of a chore. Clicking on the button to reply, he set to writing a message which wouldn't have Mikey running away in fear.
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Singing along to the Anthrax CD he had blasting from the speakers on full volume, Mikey barely heard the dull ping! emitted from his laptop, telling him that he had an email. Just catching the end of the noise though as there was a moment of silence when the song changed, he glanced towards the computer, almost being able to guess what the message said.
He was right.
Ever since joining that dating website two weeks ago, his inbox had been repeatedly flooded with messages from people, all of which went on about how well they thought the pair of them would get on. There had been the odd one which had potential, though it hadn't taken him long to think of a reason not to reply. It was incredibly unproductive when it came to starting a relationship with anyone. He knew it and knew it well, though he couldn't bring himself to stop it. Perhaps this person would be different.
He didn't have high hopes.
Sitting himself down at the table which the laptop rested on, he opened the message in his inbox on the website, quickly frowning as he did so. It took barely a second for him to realise that this message wasn't like all the others he'd received. There was nothing in this words presented to him which hinted at an attempt to get him into bed as soon as possible. Instead, it was as if the man was talking to him as a friend.
Hey, Mikey. I feel your pain - my friend suggested that I joined this website, too. Actually, forced is probably a more accurate term. Apparently I scare people away with my weirdness. Can you imagine that? I don't know why he thinks that sticking me behind a computer screen would make it any different. I'm sure I can scare enough people away with my typed-weirdness as I can my voiced-weirdness. If I wasn't so worried about the whining I'd have to endure from him, I'd definitely do an experiment - see how many people I can scare away and how quickly. If you're still reading this then I reckon you've done better than most. Here, have a virtual cookie! :) Anyway, it's pretty awesome that you play bass! I can play a little guitar...also known as a banjo. Hah! Geddit? No, but seriously. I'm much more of a singer than I am a guitarist and I've definitely got the love of music thing checked. I actually work in a music shop, a couple of towns over from where I live. Honestly, you would not believe some of the crap people ask for! If I have one more teenage girl asking when the next Justin Bieber album is out, I'm going to put some screamo in the shop CD player, turn all the lights off and make it so scary they'll be too terrified to come in.
And if you've made it to this point then you deserve a whole box of virtual cookies! I hope that you write back but no worries if you don't - god knows that I've ignored enough messages from creeps. Hopefully hear from you soon,
Gerard. :)
Unlike all the other messages he'd received which made him cringe, this message brought a noticeable smile curving to one corner of his lips and at times actually made him laugh out loud. Looking at the picture which Gerard had uploaded, the smile remained firmly on his face; the picture was of a pale man with jet black hair wearing a crooked smile and heavy black eyeliner. Mikey wasn’t one for judging a book by its cover, though if he were to make a habit of it he knew that he’d approve of this particular cover.
Pushing his chair away from the table, he continued with his tidying, knowing full well that it would be at least a couple of hours before he managed to gather the courage to even think about working on a reply.
He chose not to think about how long the actual writing of it would take.
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“So, how many people have you busted a move on yet?”
The hours had dragged by at the shop, Gerard and Frank spending most of the afternoon with the younger man plucking a few chords and Gerard singing along. Once they’d gotten bored of that though, it had taken Frank about ten whole minutes to turn the conversation to the dating website.
Shaking his head, Gerard pulled a face. "No one. Do you have any idea how many creeps are on the internet? Seriously, I've had so many guys message me that are old enough to be my dad. It's just so weird, mate."
Frank laughed at that, clearly far more amused that he should have been, though it was hardly surprising - after all, it was him who had forced Gerard on the website in the first place. "You ain't messaged anyone at all then? Seriously, you're lucky I didn't put a time limit on how long it took you to get a date, because you would be losing."
The older man rolled his eyes at that, long since used to Frank's teasing. Far too used to it to let it bother him anymore. "Actually, I messaged this guy this morning. He's dead cute, so hopefully he'll reply." He really hoped that Mikey would reply, though he had a sneaky suspicion that his weirdness shone through as bright as always. If it scared off people with more confidence than they knew what to do then he dreaded to think what it did to someone who openly admitted that they were shy.
"No way?! C'mon, you gotta show me what he looks like!" Before Gerard had chance to think of an excuse not to show him, Frank had moved the work laptop in front of them both and was already typing the address of the dating website.
"We're gonna have to clear the history after this..." His murmured words were a half hearted attempt at swaying Frank. He knew it was useless though. When Frank got an idea into his head, there was absolutely nothing that anyone could do to stop him. It was the nagging about the website all over again.
Frank waved a hand dismissively as the page loaded. "Pschh, don't worry about that! We'll clear the history and then click like mad on music websites and shit." Turning the laptop towards Gerard, he grinned at him, obviously waiting for him to log on.
Knowing it was no good trying to resist, Gerard simply sighed in resignation and logged on. His defeated attitude quickly dissipated into nothing though when a box popped up on screen, telling him he had a new message from one Mikey Williams.
Frank was looking over his shoulder, gasping loudly before he had a chance to register what was happening. "Oh, is that him?! Has he replied?! Quick quick, click on it! Lemme see what he looks like!"
He briefly wondered how offended Frank would be if he grabbed the laptop and ran to hide in the back room until he'd read the message and seen whether it was actually a good thing that he'd replied or not. It would never work though. Frank would literally break down the door if he thought there was something he was missing out on. Hoping that Mikey wouldn't make a fool out of him, he clicked on the message and both men began to read it frantically, noses almost pressed against the screen.
Hey Gerard. :) Thanks for your message. You're actually the first person I've replied to on here - I totally get where you're coming from with the whole creeps thing. I don't know how some of those people think that writing that sort of thing is going to get them anywhere. But hey, no skin off my nose. I'm glad I'm not the only person who can't stand up to their friends. I know that he meant well, but still, it's kind of embarrassing. Just the whole dating website thing. Seems kind of lame, you know? I don't think you seem all that weird. Hyper, maybe, but I'm sure there's far weirder people out there than you...most of which seem to be on this website.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit jealous of your job. It sounds far better than mine. I'm the 'administrative assistant' at my step-dad's company. Basically, I'm his secretary. I don't think it could be any more boring if it tried, but I suppose it pays the bills and all that. On the plus side, there's never a teenage girl in sight and I don't think Justin Bieber has ever been mentioned, unless you count a group of fifty year olds complaining how annoying he is.
I don't know why you seem so surprised that I made it to the end of your message, but I'll be more than happy to take that box of virtual cookies off your hands. Though if you've made it this far I suppose you probably deserve something back. How about we call it quits and just share them?
Mikey. :)
"Mate!" Frank cried the second he'd finished reading, luck being the only thing which meant that Gerard had already finished. "You have totally pulled! Let me see his picture." Leaning over Gerard's shoulder just that bit further, the younger man double clicked in the profile picture, smiling when it popped up to cover half the screen. "You're right; he is dead cute." Noticing the look he received from Gerard, he pulled a face. "What? He is!"
"Are you sure you're straight?" Worryingly enough, it wasn't the first time the question had been asked.
"100%. But seriously, you're so in there. You've got to reply to him, like, right now."
Snorting in amusement, Gerard shook his head. "There is no way I'm replying to him with you breathing down my neck."
Having the gall to look offended, Frank stuck his nose in the air indignantly. "What? I'm dead romantic." Clearing his throat dramatically, the shorter man straightened up and held one hand out in front of him, as though what he was about to say was of great importance. "'Dearest Mikey. Thank you so much for your message. It brought me great happiness, so much so that I insist we meet up and copulate most passionately at the first opportunity.'"
If Gerard hadn't punched his friend in the shoulder, he would have been willing to put money on the fact that Frank's little speech would have gotten a whole lot worse before it got better. He logged off the website and closed down the laptop, knowing that if the hours had dragged by before then they were pretty much going to stand still now.
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