Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Homeless
~Months Later~
Gerard was rapidly recovering from his surgery. More scans were made, on both on his brain and liver, and therapy was set up to rehabilitate him to his normal physical and mental health. Based on what the scans of his brain showed, the impact of the injury he had before, with the encounter of the mugger, had, in fact, given him a concussion. In such a critical state, Gerard had still drunk, inducing more damage to his brain, thus leading to the damage so easily made from the coma. Though Lindsey was guilty that she could have prevented this from happening by taking him to the hospital, she decided to move past it. There was no use dwelling in the past, and at this point, it would do them not good. They had to look forward to move forward. In such a short amount of time, Lindsey had arranged everything that was going to happen. Though Frank was currently on tour, finally, Jamia had helped Lindsey with arranging rehabs, medication, and much more to get their lives back in place. Mikey had been discharged from the hospital weeks before and took infrequent medication, but mostly stayed in bed or was in the basement, playing bass. He had been quietly disappointed when the band had left without him, even before he could audition, but they had no choice. All Mikey could do now was wait for them to come back and listen for announcement on the temporary bass player. The first couple weeks coming home from the hospital, he had done nothing but stay in bed, usually doubled over in pain from his wound. He always spoke and worried of infection and other complications, but judging from the check-ups at the hospital and look of the scar itself, Mikey was recovering healthily. Bandit was glad to have peers to accompany her through the day, as Cherry and Lily gladly included her into everything they did, and accepted her as if their own sister. Lindsey knew she was making progress, haven chosen a perfect, state-paid rehabilitation canter with a 30-day in-stay program, but some matters were not resolved. Her parents, who had never approved of Gerard, being that he was an alcoholic since they had met, had begun to shun Lindsey. Their relationship was on the line as it was; the only thing that kept them in touch was Bandit, their beloved granddaughter. Now that they had heard the worst, that her husband lost his job, intentionally destroyed his own health, and putting his family’s health and wellbeing in peril was too much for them to handle, let alone accept. They could not believe that Lindsey would fall for such a failure in their eyes. Obviously, Lindsey saw different. Gerard wasn’t really how her parents thought. She was among the few who knew what a caring, compassionate person he was, and that his mental conditions did not define him. After all, he could not control it. His actions were barely his own while the monster of depression ripped apart his mind. As far as she was concerned, if her parents didn’t like Gerard, she didn’t like them. At a time like this, she didn’t want to be told that she made the wrong choice, but to be told how to fix her life to return to it’s normalcy.
Every time she visited Gerard, she attended every therapy session and any other check-ups he had to go through. Based on x-rays and scans, his liver, or Mikey’s liver, had completely regenerated into a full form and was functioning better than adequately, but to prevent any rejection or complications, he had to take at least 30 pills a day, not including the ones he had to take for his brain. The therapy, both physical and mental, had helped his condition vastly, and he was practically back to normal. Lindsey and Gerard held their usual conversations, and Lindsey had more and more hope as the days past. Unfortunately, the only thing that brought her down after Gerard woke up was the frequent asking for alcohol; as if he had never realized the reason he had ended up in the hospital. The brain injury and stunted his ability to make the logical decision, and though Lindsey knew his craving for alcohol, especially after being an alcoholic, was normal, she knew that this was not the worst of it. She would have to act on Gerard’s decisions all the time, justifying the socially inappropriate comments he made to other people, and teaching him the moral things to do. But she did not give in. She memorized his medicine schedule of every day so even if he forgot, she wouldn’t. Soon, Gerard would be out of the hospital and into rehab, hopefully, able to recover as soon as possible. Over time, his craving for alcohol decreased, though he frequently grew sick from withdrawal. He was still deathly thin but gained a couple pounds, partly from the medication he took. He looked sickly, but he always tried to act happy and content. It was clear that he cared about Lindsey and knew how much he hurt her. His original self was slowly being restored; his ability to feel sympathy and general actions were much better than they were weeks before.
February was coming to a close and the weather was starting to warm. The snow on the ground was slowly starting to disappear. Along with the new start at life in nature, the Way’s were ready to start a new life of their own. As if it were a miracle, Lindsey quickly found a better paying job than before, an art teacher at a high school. Coincidentally, it was the high school in the same town Frank lived in, Ridgewood. The previous art teacher had mysteriously quit, and the board was desperate to find a new teacher. Bandit was enjoyed the huge house with the infinite amount of toys and company, and Lindsey was glad she could have some indulgence she had never experienced before after being exposed to so much stress and despair. With the help of the Housing Services Corporation, Lindsey was given many opportunities to find an affordable and safe neighborhood where they could move in. Gerard was far from applying for any jobs just yet, but as long as he recovered quickly, he would be able to go to the unemployment center to search for a job. As of now, Lindsey wanted to stop taking advantage of the Iero’s generosity, after all they had done for her, Gerard, and Bandit, and wanted to repay them any way they could. Jamia was relatively skilled at expenses and connections, being that she was extremely involved in the politics and occurrences in Frank’s band, and was able to help Lindsey with the decisions she had to make. While they sat at the kitchen table, talking about the transition into her new job, new apartment, and new life, Jamia struck up a conversation,
“Lindsey, did Gerard ever tell you what he did before he met you?” Lindsey thought for a moment. She loved Gerard more than she had loved anyone ever before when she had gotten to know him, and still did, but Gerard was very secretive about his past. He had always been scared of judgment, and infrequently told Lindsey about himself. Of course there had been several occasions where Lindsey had grown so frustrated at him that she had to take a break from him when they were still dating, but eventually grew to respect Gerard’s boundaries. Fortunately, seeing her respect, he decided to open up. It was very hesitantly at first, but in the end, he found that telling the only person he actually trusted in life had released a lot of the burden in his life. Lindsey remembered seeing the scars left from his suicide attempt on his forearms for the first time, when he had undressed in front of her. He had always worn long sleeved shirts in public, and though they had been intimate before, Lindsey had never seen the shocking scars. Gerard was ashamed of showing his past, and once Lindsey asked about them, he panicked. That moment was what Gerard feared most in their relationship; talk of his past and debaucheries. He was so afraid that the only girl that had ever fallen for him, Lindsey, would have been scared off by his emotional burdens and he would be heartbroken, never to search for love again. It had taken a lot of courage to accept Lindsey’s invitation into her life, and at the beginning, he was always on edge, scared of the outcome of the their relationship. But Lindsey was better than Gerard had thought. She did not care about his past, but only of his present. She only cared that she thought he was the most amazing person she knew and that she would do anything to make him realize that about himself. She completely devoted herself to him, only then understanding the unwritten definition of love. Finally, Gerard had noticed this and finally sealed their future by proposing to her. Instead of a ring, Gerard took her to California, after saving up and dipping into his previous savings, and proposed to her at the very same place he had met her, at the San Diego Comic Con. Not a very romantic place, one would think, but a grand gesture, it seemed, to Lindsey. They decided to have their ceremony, just the two of them and no guests, at La Jolla, one of the most beautiful beaches in San Diego. The actual ceremony itself had cost barely any money and they had simply hired a priest at a very low price and got married on a rocky area, a cliff above one of the snorkeling coves. They only wore their beach clothes, Lindsey wearing a bathing suit underneath one of Gerard’s old, paint-splattered shirt, and Gerard only wearing a holey t-shirt and a bathing suit. Soon after Gerard kissed the bride, the climbed down the rocks, threw off their shirts, and dove into the pristine waters. They had giggled and laughed the whole day, and watched the bright orange Garibaldi fish as the sun went down. Cliché, it seemed to the both of them, but they had never experienced anything more exciting. Lindsey snapped out of her thoughts and answered Jamia,
“Not necessarily, no.” Gerard had opened up to her more than he had to anyone ever before, but by no means actually answered in detail.
“Did he ever tell you he actually brought together Frank’s band?”
“What?”
“Yeah, he was pretty unsatisfied at SVA and he got together a bunch of friends and started it. He was originally the singer, and Frank was just the rhythm guitarist,”
“But what happened?”
“Well, his drinking and failure to actually show up to practice or even some shows led them to mutually agree that Gerard wasn’t exactly the greatest member of the band. After months and months of being together, they had never received any publicity or offers, and they were close to breaking up anyway, so Gerard left without any hard feelings. Obviously, he kept in touch with the band afterwards, but, you know, he moved on.” Lindsey was shocked. His decision to drink had impacted him more in the future than it had in the past. It was incredible to think of how different their lives would have been if Gerard had stayed. No wonder he felt so much guilt in not being able to support his family. He thought that he had made all the wrong choices. “I guess we kind of owe it Gerard for actually creating the band,” she laughed, “So, this is our thank you, really.” Lindsey wasn’t sure how to feel. Everything she seemed to know about Gerard was lost. She felt her heart fall to her feet thinking about the pain he must have felt that put alcohol as his priority, and how torn he must have been to find how successful he could have been over the years instead of sitting in a desk job.
“Oh, Gerard…” she whispered to herself.
“I remember his singing, though. He was amazing, and the lyrics he wrote were just beautiful. I’m pretty sure most of the songs off their first record are his. He’s credited in it, I think.” Lindsey recalled hearing Gerard singing to Bandit. He really did have a beautiful voice, but Lindsey had never said so. It didn’t seem very important to him. Even if she knew it made Gerard uncomfortable, she would urge him to speak his feelings. Evidently, piling everything up was not healthy, and thankfully, with rehab, he would get therapy.
“Wow, he never told me that, Jamia, I never knew… But still, I can’t even begin to thank you for all that you’ve done for us.” Just as Lindsey was thanking Jamia, Mikey walked into the kitchen, wanting a glass of water.
“Hi, Mikes,” Jamia said, writing something down on a piece of paper to check back on later about real estate.
“Hi,” he exhaled, grabbing a water bottle from the refrigerator, “What’s up?”
“Looking for apartments. Hey, did Gerard ever tell you about My Chemical Romance?” Lindsey asked.
“Hm? Of course… I’m trying out for them…”
“No, I mean, how Gerard was in the band.”
“Gerard was in the band? Really?"
“Apparently he actually got the band together and was the singer.”
“I didn’t know Gerard sang…” Lindsey explained the rest of the story to Mikey, and he ended up imagining just what Lindsey had; how different Gerard’s life would have been. It was surreal to think about the connections that had occurred. His long unknown brother, was, in fact, the creator of one of the biggest recent bands, and now, unaware of that fact, he himself was so close to becoming ac actual member. Mikey felt horrible to think that he was going to take away part of Gerard by being in the band, but he remembered that he hadn’t even performed for the rest of the band yet, and there was a possibility that he would not even be a part of it. He felt so conflicted as to which was better off. What would he do?
A/N: I know this is kind of a boring chapter. It's mostly filler for some little things I had to bring up. I was in a romantic mood when I wrote the lovey-dovey stuff
Gerard was rapidly recovering from his surgery. More scans were made, on both on his brain and liver, and therapy was set up to rehabilitate him to his normal physical and mental health. Based on what the scans of his brain showed, the impact of the injury he had before, with the encounter of the mugger, had, in fact, given him a concussion. In such a critical state, Gerard had still drunk, inducing more damage to his brain, thus leading to the damage so easily made from the coma. Though Lindsey was guilty that she could have prevented this from happening by taking him to the hospital, she decided to move past it. There was no use dwelling in the past, and at this point, it would do them not good. They had to look forward to move forward. In such a short amount of time, Lindsey had arranged everything that was going to happen. Though Frank was currently on tour, finally, Jamia had helped Lindsey with arranging rehabs, medication, and much more to get their lives back in place. Mikey had been discharged from the hospital weeks before and took infrequent medication, but mostly stayed in bed or was in the basement, playing bass. He had been quietly disappointed when the band had left without him, even before he could audition, but they had no choice. All Mikey could do now was wait for them to come back and listen for announcement on the temporary bass player. The first couple weeks coming home from the hospital, he had done nothing but stay in bed, usually doubled over in pain from his wound. He always spoke and worried of infection and other complications, but judging from the check-ups at the hospital and look of the scar itself, Mikey was recovering healthily. Bandit was glad to have peers to accompany her through the day, as Cherry and Lily gladly included her into everything they did, and accepted her as if their own sister. Lindsey knew she was making progress, haven chosen a perfect, state-paid rehabilitation canter with a 30-day in-stay program, but some matters were not resolved. Her parents, who had never approved of Gerard, being that he was an alcoholic since they had met, had begun to shun Lindsey. Their relationship was on the line as it was; the only thing that kept them in touch was Bandit, their beloved granddaughter. Now that they had heard the worst, that her husband lost his job, intentionally destroyed his own health, and putting his family’s health and wellbeing in peril was too much for them to handle, let alone accept. They could not believe that Lindsey would fall for such a failure in their eyes. Obviously, Lindsey saw different. Gerard wasn’t really how her parents thought. She was among the few who knew what a caring, compassionate person he was, and that his mental conditions did not define him. After all, he could not control it. His actions were barely his own while the monster of depression ripped apart his mind. As far as she was concerned, if her parents didn’t like Gerard, she didn’t like them. At a time like this, she didn’t want to be told that she made the wrong choice, but to be told how to fix her life to return to it’s normalcy.
Every time she visited Gerard, she attended every therapy session and any other check-ups he had to go through. Based on x-rays and scans, his liver, or Mikey’s liver, had completely regenerated into a full form and was functioning better than adequately, but to prevent any rejection or complications, he had to take at least 30 pills a day, not including the ones he had to take for his brain. The therapy, both physical and mental, had helped his condition vastly, and he was practically back to normal. Lindsey and Gerard held their usual conversations, and Lindsey had more and more hope as the days past. Unfortunately, the only thing that brought her down after Gerard woke up was the frequent asking for alcohol; as if he had never realized the reason he had ended up in the hospital. The brain injury and stunted his ability to make the logical decision, and though Lindsey knew his craving for alcohol, especially after being an alcoholic, was normal, she knew that this was not the worst of it. She would have to act on Gerard’s decisions all the time, justifying the socially inappropriate comments he made to other people, and teaching him the moral things to do. But she did not give in. She memorized his medicine schedule of every day so even if he forgot, she wouldn’t. Soon, Gerard would be out of the hospital and into rehab, hopefully, able to recover as soon as possible. Over time, his craving for alcohol decreased, though he frequently grew sick from withdrawal. He was still deathly thin but gained a couple pounds, partly from the medication he took. He looked sickly, but he always tried to act happy and content. It was clear that he cared about Lindsey and knew how much he hurt her. His original self was slowly being restored; his ability to feel sympathy and general actions were much better than they were weeks before.
February was coming to a close and the weather was starting to warm. The snow on the ground was slowly starting to disappear. Along with the new start at life in nature, the Way’s were ready to start a new life of their own. As if it were a miracle, Lindsey quickly found a better paying job than before, an art teacher at a high school. Coincidentally, it was the high school in the same town Frank lived in, Ridgewood. The previous art teacher had mysteriously quit, and the board was desperate to find a new teacher. Bandit was enjoyed the huge house with the infinite amount of toys and company, and Lindsey was glad she could have some indulgence she had never experienced before after being exposed to so much stress and despair. With the help of the Housing Services Corporation, Lindsey was given many opportunities to find an affordable and safe neighborhood where they could move in. Gerard was far from applying for any jobs just yet, but as long as he recovered quickly, he would be able to go to the unemployment center to search for a job. As of now, Lindsey wanted to stop taking advantage of the Iero’s generosity, after all they had done for her, Gerard, and Bandit, and wanted to repay them any way they could. Jamia was relatively skilled at expenses and connections, being that she was extremely involved in the politics and occurrences in Frank’s band, and was able to help Lindsey with the decisions she had to make. While they sat at the kitchen table, talking about the transition into her new job, new apartment, and new life, Jamia struck up a conversation,
“Lindsey, did Gerard ever tell you what he did before he met you?” Lindsey thought for a moment. She loved Gerard more than she had loved anyone ever before when she had gotten to know him, and still did, but Gerard was very secretive about his past. He had always been scared of judgment, and infrequently told Lindsey about himself. Of course there had been several occasions where Lindsey had grown so frustrated at him that she had to take a break from him when they were still dating, but eventually grew to respect Gerard’s boundaries. Fortunately, seeing her respect, he decided to open up. It was very hesitantly at first, but in the end, he found that telling the only person he actually trusted in life had released a lot of the burden in his life. Lindsey remembered seeing the scars left from his suicide attempt on his forearms for the first time, when he had undressed in front of her. He had always worn long sleeved shirts in public, and though they had been intimate before, Lindsey had never seen the shocking scars. Gerard was ashamed of showing his past, and once Lindsey asked about them, he panicked. That moment was what Gerard feared most in their relationship; talk of his past and debaucheries. He was so afraid that the only girl that had ever fallen for him, Lindsey, would have been scared off by his emotional burdens and he would be heartbroken, never to search for love again. It had taken a lot of courage to accept Lindsey’s invitation into her life, and at the beginning, he was always on edge, scared of the outcome of the their relationship. But Lindsey was better than Gerard had thought. She did not care about his past, but only of his present. She only cared that she thought he was the most amazing person she knew and that she would do anything to make him realize that about himself. She completely devoted herself to him, only then understanding the unwritten definition of love. Finally, Gerard had noticed this and finally sealed their future by proposing to her. Instead of a ring, Gerard took her to California, after saving up and dipping into his previous savings, and proposed to her at the very same place he had met her, at the San Diego Comic Con. Not a very romantic place, one would think, but a grand gesture, it seemed, to Lindsey. They decided to have their ceremony, just the two of them and no guests, at La Jolla, one of the most beautiful beaches in San Diego. The actual ceremony itself had cost barely any money and they had simply hired a priest at a very low price and got married on a rocky area, a cliff above one of the snorkeling coves. They only wore their beach clothes, Lindsey wearing a bathing suit underneath one of Gerard’s old, paint-splattered shirt, and Gerard only wearing a holey t-shirt and a bathing suit. Soon after Gerard kissed the bride, the climbed down the rocks, threw off their shirts, and dove into the pristine waters. They had giggled and laughed the whole day, and watched the bright orange Garibaldi fish as the sun went down. Cliché, it seemed to the both of them, but they had never experienced anything more exciting. Lindsey snapped out of her thoughts and answered Jamia,
“Not necessarily, no.” Gerard had opened up to her more than he had to anyone ever before, but by no means actually answered in detail.
“Did he ever tell you he actually brought together Frank’s band?”
“What?”
“Yeah, he was pretty unsatisfied at SVA and he got together a bunch of friends and started it. He was originally the singer, and Frank was just the rhythm guitarist,”
“But what happened?”
“Well, his drinking and failure to actually show up to practice or even some shows led them to mutually agree that Gerard wasn’t exactly the greatest member of the band. After months and months of being together, they had never received any publicity or offers, and they were close to breaking up anyway, so Gerard left without any hard feelings. Obviously, he kept in touch with the band afterwards, but, you know, he moved on.” Lindsey was shocked. His decision to drink had impacted him more in the future than it had in the past. It was incredible to think of how different their lives would have been if Gerard had stayed. No wonder he felt so much guilt in not being able to support his family. He thought that he had made all the wrong choices. “I guess we kind of owe it Gerard for actually creating the band,” she laughed, “So, this is our thank you, really.” Lindsey wasn’t sure how to feel. Everything she seemed to know about Gerard was lost. She felt her heart fall to her feet thinking about the pain he must have felt that put alcohol as his priority, and how torn he must have been to find how successful he could have been over the years instead of sitting in a desk job.
“Oh, Gerard…” she whispered to herself.
“I remember his singing, though. He was amazing, and the lyrics he wrote were just beautiful. I’m pretty sure most of the songs off their first record are his. He’s credited in it, I think.” Lindsey recalled hearing Gerard singing to Bandit. He really did have a beautiful voice, but Lindsey had never said so. It didn’t seem very important to him. Even if she knew it made Gerard uncomfortable, she would urge him to speak his feelings. Evidently, piling everything up was not healthy, and thankfully, with rehab, he would get therapy.
“Wow, he never told me that, Jamia, I never knew… But still, I can’t even begin to thank you for all that you’ve done for us.” Just as Lindsey was thanking Jamia, Mikey walked into the kitchen, wanting a glass of water.
“Hi, Mikes,” Jamia said, writing something down on a piece of paper to check back on later about real estate.
“Hi,” he exhaled, grabbing a water bottle from the refrigerator, “What’s up?”
“Looking for apartments. Hey, did Gerard ever tell you about My Chemical Romance?” Lindsey asked.
“Hm? Of course… I’m trying out for them…”
“No, I mean, how Gerard was in the band.”
“Gerard was in the band? Really?"
“Apparently he actually got the band together and was the singer.”
“I didn’t know Gerard sang…” Lindsey explained the rest of the story to Mikey, and he ended up imagining just what Lindsey had; how different Gerard’s life would have been. It was surreal to think about the connections that had occurred. His long unknown brother, was, in fact, the creator of one of the biggest recent bands, and now, unaware of that fact, he himself was so close to becoming ac actual member. Mikey felt horrible to think that he was going to take away part of Gerard by being in the band, but he remembered that he hadn’t even performed for the rest of the band yet, and there was a possibility that he would not even be a part of it. He felt so conflicted as to which was better off. What would he do?
A/N: I know this is kind of a boring chapter. It's mostly filler for some little things I had to bring up. I was in a romantic mood when I wrote the lovey-dovey stuff
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