FicWad

Bob couldn’t figure out why his four fellow band members were so happy. Gerard’s bad mood seemed to have evaporated, and the others were smiling for no reason and laughing at things that weren’t really funny.
He was happy too, though for different reasons than Mikey, Gerard, Ray and Frank. When Gerard had sent them off to their rooms, Bob had gone, but he soon got bored in a room by himself (Brian was off doing God knows what). After a few minutes he had gone back to the backstage area and met the Foo Fighters, with whom he stayed and had a good time for a few hours before returning to his room.
So it was a happy band that had hung out with 30 Seconds to Mars all morning (Mikey had talked Jared into letting them have full use of all the games consoles in the other band’s dressing room. Thankfully he had also persuaded Gerard to steer clear of Jared and ignore any flirting that was going on), had ordered a pizza, politely declined Jared’s invitation to stay hanging out, and gone back to their dressing room. By now their cheerful mood was starting to wear off, and it was Frank who voiced what the others had been thinking.
“Guys, I’m bored!” he whined. Ray got up from his chair and squeezed himself on the sofa between Frank and Bob. Gerard, who had been perching on the edge of the dressing table due to lack of furniture, quickly seated himself in Ray’s empty chair.
“Come on Frankie, give us a smile.” Ray pleaded. When Frank failed to do so, he launched a tickling attack on the younger man, only stopping when Frank was giggling and they were both out of breath from squirming around.
Had they been paying attention to the other three men in the room, they would have noticed that Bob, Mikey and Gerard were all staring at them in bemusement. Mikey tore his eyes away from them and looked at Bob, who continued to stare in surprise. He switched his gaze to Gerard, whose eyebrows had risen high on his forehead. While the two brothers exchanged surprised and slightly amused looks, Gerard only just keeping himself from smirking, Mikey leaned over to Bob and tapped him on the shoulder, bringing him back to focus on something other than the two men who were getting their breath back on the sofa next to him, still on their own little planet.
When Ray and Frank had finally recovered and turned their attention back to Gerard, Mikey and Bob, the three of them were all looking away with unconvincing indifferent expressions.
“So!” Gerard began brightly. He stopped and cleared his throat. “Eh … Frank, if you’re bored, why don’t we go back to the coach and have a play around with some of the new stuff?” The others readily agreed and they set off to the coach where their instruments were.
After a while of attempting to write something new, Mikey had a sudden thought.
“Hey guys, does anyone have the time?” he asked. Ray checked his watch.
“6:31.” he replied. Mikey cursed.
“I’m gonna be late for Angels and Airwaves! Anyone else coming?”
“Yeah, hold up a second and we’ll come too.” Gerard said.
“Uh, guys… Frank and I kinda need to finish this guitar part. We’ve almost got it.” Ray sounded sheepish.
“The set starts in two minutes, so do you mind if we go on? Catch us up!” said Mikey. Frank and Ray nodded, and the others left.
Frank strummed some chords on his guitar and Ray started to play the makings of a solo over them. He finished it and looked up, unsatisfied.
“I think it’s the end that’s wrong.” He fiddled around with some notes.
“Yeah.” Frank agreed. “Hey, why did you tickle me earlier?” Ray looked up from his guitar.
“Because it made you laugh. Why not?” he replied.
“Well, it’s not that I don’t want you to, but don’t you think the others will find out?
“And?” was Ray’s response. “They’ll find out anyway.” He went back to working on the solo.
“You don’t mind them knowing? Don’t you think they’ll be a bit weird about it?” Frank protested. Ray didn’t even look up as he replied.
“Frank, they’re great guys and they’re our friends. They don’t have problems with gays or bisexuals. They’ll be happy for us. Besides, Gerard and Mikey together is a lot worse than us.”
“Gerard and Mikey!?” Frank repeated, his eyes widening in shock.
“Well, yeah” Ray confirmed. “I don’t think they’re dating or anything, they’re just extremely over-affectionate brothers. But you must have seen how they look at each other. Complete trust. Not to mention all the time they spend alone together, and when they rejoin us they’re always just a little ruffled? How do you think Gerard always manages to ‘calm’ Mikey?” Frank blinked a few times, stunned by this revelation.
“Come to think of it, when I walked in on them yesterday I’m sure they were holding hands…” Frank said slowly. “Well anyway, if they can mess around with family I’m sure they won’t have a problem with us. But still, I’d rather the others didn’t know. Do you mind?”
“Babe, if that’s what you want,” Ray murmured, leaning over to give Frank a soft kiss, “Then that’s what we’ll do.” He pulled way to smile at Frank his eyes suddenly lit up.
“I’ve got it! Frankie, play your chords!” Frank gave Ray a lopsided grin and began to play. Ray layered his altered solo over Frank’s chords. They fitted perfectly. Both men beamed.
“That’s it. Awesome!” Frank said happily. “Come on; let’s go catch up with the others.” He took Ray’s hand and pulled the older man out of the coach and towards the stage where Angels and Airwaves were playing.

~*~

By this stage in the set, Mikey was the only one still enjoying himself. Gerard and Bob had enjoyed the first part, but three or four songs they had switched off. Frank and Ray’s arrival was a welcome break; Frank had predictably grown bored after couple of songs and moved on to join Gerard and Bob in laughing at the members of the audience with stupid hair (most of them, in fact).
Ray managed to stick it out to the end of the set with Mikey, who had obviously really enjoyed watching Angels and Airwaves. He continued to stare at Tom Delonge as the singer walked off the stage and almost straight into four men who had been waiting for him on the other side of the stage.
He stopped and talked to them for a bit, giving Mikey a chance to get a closer look at the mysterious chosen ones who were talking to one of Mikey’s heroes. One of them was dressed in a long, pirate style coat and smart trousers. He had dark brown hair and was obviously the leader of the gang as he was the one doing the talking. The next had short, light brown hair and a square-ish shaped face; he was wearing a suit and smiling as he talked. The third man wore a white dress shirt untucked over skinny black jeans. His hair was dark brown and he wasn’t showing as much enthusiasm as the others; clearly he wasn’t as big a fan of Tom Delonge as they were.
The fourth man took Mikey’s breath away. He looked a bit like he was straight out of Oliver Twist, wearing a red waistcoat over a white ruffled shirt and pinstriped trousers which were tucked into mid calf boots. Painted on his face were black and white striped lines, coming straight down from under his eyes and curling round on his cheeks. He hung back a little out of nervousness, but when he smiled it was so perfect that Mikey could have sworn there were little sparkles all over him and he was surrounded by a shining aura.
“Mikey, honey.” Gerard called. Mikey reluctantly tore his eyes away from the gleaming man and looked at his brother. “Uh… ok. To put it bluntly, we’re all bored and we none of us want to watch Panic! At The Disco’s set. I don’t know if you want to or not, but if you are gonna stay, do you mind if we go back to the coach?” he asked.
“I might as well watch them now I’m here. But yeah, you guys go on. You gonna come back and watch The Raconteurs?”
“Yeah, we’ll meet back up with you then.” Gerard suggested.
“Okay, cool.” Mikey agreed. The other band members were about to leave when a voice came from behind them.
“You’re leaving Mikey all alone?” Jared Leto enquired, smiling charmingly as he appeared by Mikey’s shoulder, draping an arm around the younger man’s neck. Mikey, Bob, Ray and Frank smiled back. Gerard, in turn, glared daggers at him.
“Fuck off, Leto. He’s a big boy; he can watch a set by himself.” Gerard snarled, and he stalked off. Ray gave Jared an apologetic shrug and followed. Bob and Frank gave him half smiles then turned and went after the other two, leaving Mikey with Jared.
“Your brother really hates me, doesn’t he?” Jared sighed.
“It seems so.” Mikey replied.
“Do you have any idea why?” Mikey decided it would be best not to go into details, so he just shook his head.
“You know Jared; I’m sure that when he’s gotten over himself a bit he’ll talk to you about it. Anyway, are you watching Panic! at the Disco?” Mikey asked.
“Yup. Their music’s good. They’re great guys too.” Jared answered.
“You know them?”
“We’ve hung out before.” Mikey nodded and turned to face the stage as the lights went out and four men walked on. A spotlight shone on the lead singer and Mikey blinked in surprise. It was the man in the pirate coat!
“Hey there L.A.! We’re Panic! At The Disco, and this song’s called Lying Is The Most Fun a Girl Can Have without Taking Her Clothes Off!” All the females in the crowd screamed as some dim lights came on at the back of the stage, showing the silhouettes of the other three men. Mikey recognised them too; they had been talking to Tom Delonge with the lead singer. The one with the squarish jaw was playing drums, the one wearing a dress shirt over jeans was playing bass, and the one Mikey couldn’t take his eyes off was playing guitar.
“Hey Jared, could you tell me who they all are?” Mikey asked without taking his eyes away from the stage.
“Sure. The drummer is Spencer Smith, the bassist is Jon Walker, the guitarist is Ryan Ross and the lead singer is Brendon Urie.” Jared replied. Neither of them spoke for the rest of the set, both too glued to the stage to bother. It was an amazingly flamboyant and theatrical set, complete with big, flashing lights and cabaret dancers.
Mikey had heard of Panic! At The Disco- who hadn’t? But he’d never listened to their music. He was a bit surprised at how good it was, with catchy choruses, complicated and meaningful lyrics, and snatches of dance music mixed in with piano instrumentals. Clearly Mikey had underestimated them.
“Good night, we hope you enjoy the rest of the evening!” Brendon called, ending the set. He and the rest of his band walked offstage, Brendon spotting Jared and Mikey at the side off the stage and running over to them.
“Hey Jared! We’re going back to the dressing room, you want to come? And your friend, of course.” He invited, smiling cheekily.
“Sure, sounds cool.” Jared grinned good-naturedly, and he followed the band to their dressing room, Mikey in tow. Once there, they were given seats and asked to wait a few minutes whilst the Panic! members got changed into normal street clothes. Only Ryan kept his stage costume on, although he did take off his make up. Shortly they rejoined Jared and Mikey.
Jared stood up, saying,
“Gentlemen, may I present to you Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance.” He made a dramatic sweeping gesture towards Mikey.
“Hi.” Mikey said, standing up too and smiling nervously. He received ‘Hey’s” and friendly smiles in return, which made him feel slightly more comfortable. Spencer laughed.
“You look so uncomfortable standing there! Sit down, we won’t bite,” he said. Thankful for the kind words, Mikey blushed a little and sat back down in the middle of their three seater sofa, silently wondering why My Chemical Romance had only been given a two seater. He was quickly brought back to full attention when Brendon sat down on his lap. Mikey’s eyes widened in shock.
“Don’t worry; this is Brendon’s way of bonding. He has strange ideas of personal space.” Ryan chuckled as he sat down next to Mikey (Jared was on the other side and Jon and Spencer had taken the chairs). Mikey gasped, feeling his heart skip a beat at Ryan’s smile. He looked around, hoping no one had noticed but they didn’t seem to have, and he began to relax a little as Brendon and Jared started to catch up with what everyone had been doing since they had last met. The others gradually joined in, and Mikey found himself getting swept along with their flow of conversation, although he was still too nervous of making a prat of himself to join in properly.
After a while, however, his good mood was brought down by pins and needles in his lower legs due Brendon sitting on him. Now, though Mikey tried to hide it, even the greatest man has been brought down by pins and needles, and he couldn’t help wincing. Ryan noticed and tapped Brendon on the shoulder.
“Bren, darl. I think you’re killing our Mikey’s legs.” He said, giving Mikey a bedazzling smile. The bassist smiled back gratefully.
“Fine, I see.” Brendon faked being offended. He gave Mikey a playful grin and moved on to sit on his next victim, Jon.
There was a knock on the door and Spencer got up and opened it. A sound technician stood there.
“There’s a Kerrang! reporter asking for an interview with Panic! at the Disco in the bar.” He said, and then he nodded to them and walked away, probably to do more sound tech-y stuff.
“Right then, we’d better go.” Spencer sighed. “Jared and Mikey: sorry about this. Stay here, we’ll be right back.” With that the four Panic! boys apologetically left.
“This is weird.” Mikey said.
“Is it?”
“I mean, being in someone else’s dressing room without them here.”
“I guess.” Jared said, looking at Mikey. “But it’s good because I wanted to ask; are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.” Mikey answered, slightly confused.
“You sure? You aren’t talking much.” Jared sounded concerned.
“I’m just a bit nervous, that’s all.”
“Of what? Anyway, what do you think of them?”
“They’re really nice.” Mikey smiled, Ryan coming to his mind.
“Ooh, so that’s what it is. We’re nervous of is a certain guitarist finding out that a certain bassist is crushing on him. Aren’t we? Though really Mikey, how can one meeting be enough for you to get a crush on him?” Jared teased.
“No! Uh…um…” Mikey floundered for words. His eyes suddenly widened in alarm as a thought hit him. “Hang on, is it obvious? Do you think he knows?” he panicked. Jared gave him an almost brotherly smile.
“You’re hardly showing it, don’t worry. And I’ve had many years of getting to know the signs when someone’s harbouring a crush; I pick up on the tiniest thing. However,” Jared paused here and gave an overdramatic, depressed sigh. “I suppose I don’t have any chance with you now, do I?”
“Don’t get me wrong Jared, you’re a great musician and actor, and you’re really hot, but you’re not quite my type.” Mikey said, his voice genuinely regretful but still firm. Jared raised his hands in defeat.
“Okay, okay then. In that case, I guess I’d better give you a hand getting our gorgeous friend Mr Ross! And that shouldn’t be a problem, because he’s as straight as a roundabout. Here are some tips. Number one: you actually have to talk to him. Number two: he will not take chances. You have to make your message crystal clear, and most likely you’ll have to make the first move. Number three…”

~*~

“So, last couple of questions. This kind of event is always good for picking up girls. Do you think you’ll se anyone?” Rob, the reporter, asked. Ryan silently cursed the reporter for asking such personal questions.
“We’ll see. We’ll be on the prowl!” laughed Brendon.
“There’s so many people here there’s bound to be someone special for everyone.” answered Ryan, his mind wandering back to the Way brother in their dressing room, whose smile he had instantly fallen for.
“Someone special? Ryan, do you think you could find love here?” Rob enquired. Ryan smiled, thinking of Mikey.
“Yes.” He said quietly. “Yes, I do.”
Rob decided to end the interview on that note, and they all headed back to the dressing room. It was disturbingly quiet as they walked, Ryan thought. Even Brendon, usually so hyperactive, wasn’t talking! He glanced at his friends, who quickly looked away and pretended they hadn’t been watching him curiously. The silence continued. A minute later, Spencer, as Ryan’s best friend, felt he should be the one to say what he, Jon and Brendon had been thinking.
“Ryan, do you, by any chance, happen to think you’re in love with someone?” Ryan instantly began to regret what he had told Rob.
“Eh… maybe.” He replied, giving a cheesy awkward grin and speeding up a little as they navigated towards their dressing room.
“Aww, our little flower’s finally found himself a man. And it’s about time too, it’s been ages since you came out.” Jon gave a fatherly smile.
“Well…? You realise we wont let you off until you tell us who.” Spencer pushed. Ryan stayed mute. He held up till they were a few meters away from the dressing room, when Brendon decided he couldn’t just watch quietly.
“For the love of eyeliner Ryan, who is it that you like?!?!” he exploded.
“Shut up!” Ryan hissed, flapping his hands in panicked shushing motions. He glanced nervously at their dressing room door. “They’ll hear you!”
“It’s Jared or Mikey?” Spencer asked, more than a little surprised. Ryan blushed lightly wishing his friend couldn’t read him so well. He tried to walk off, but found himself being pinned to the wall by an alarmed looking Brendon.
“Ryan, look me in the eyes. Do you think you are in love with Jared Leto?” he demanded.
“No dear. He’s like a brother. Plus he’s, what, 15 years older than me?” Ryan answered. Brendon, Jon and Spencer simultaneously sighed in relief. Then their expressions changed from relief to shock and their eyes widened as the truth dawned on them. Ryan blushed more, realising that he had just given himself away.
“That means it’s…” Ryan, now a lovely shade of pink that would easily have put a beetroot to shame, ran into the dressing room before Jon could finish his sentence.
“Mikey?”

~*~

The rest of the time they spent together on the dressing room was much more natural. Mikey talked normally, though he was a little surprised when Brendon, Jon and Spencer pretty much asked him his life story, with Ryan giving them ‘okay, going too far, guys’ glances, apologising for them, and assuring Mikey he didn’t need to say anything he didn’t want to. Mikey gave them an account of his childhood but avoided talking about the band, ending with;
“Then I dropped out of college to join My Chemical Romance.” The other five men nodded at his story. There were a few seconds of silence, in which Brendon tried to stifle a yawn.
“Jeez, Brendon. It’s only 8:55 and you’re already tired?” Jon shook his head in disappointment.
“8:55? Fuck! I was meant to be at the stage to see The Raconteurs half an hour ago!” Mikey panicked, sitting up.
“Your brother’ll be shitting himself!” Jared said in alarm, a look of terror on his face. “I’m dead! Well guys, Mikey and I enjoyed talking to you, but we have to go before Gerard Way sends assassins out to get me because I’ve kidnapped his brother. See ya!” he hurriedly smiled and Mikey nodded as they sprinted out the door and away.
“Nice one, Ryan.” Spencer smirked. “You’ve picked the mysterious one who doesn’t want to talk about his life in a band, and has a protective older brother. Good luck.”

~*~

As The Raconteurs launched into their next song, Gerard was growing more frustrated. He wasn’t worried about Mikey’s ability to look after himself, after all the man was 26. No, it was more he was angry that Mikey was late because he was with Jared Leto. Immediately, Gerard’s already slightly frantic mind went into overdrive. What if Jared was trying to force Mikey into something? Or what if Mikey preferred to spend time with Jared than him? Was he that bad a brother?
He was broken out of his thoughts when Mikey and Jared ran round the corner and skidded to a halt.
“Sorry guys, sorry Gee,” Mikey panted.
“Yeah, sorry.” Jared added, eyeing Gerard warily. Sighing in relief, Gerard crossed over to them in three strides and folded Mikey into his arms. Jared wasn’t sure whether someone having relief and ultimate hate in their eyes at the same time was meant to be humanly possible, but Gerard seemed to manage it easily as he gave Jared yet another glare.
“You’re not wanted here, Leto. Can’t you find someone else to bother?” Gerard spat.
“Oh, subtle.” Jared smirked, inwardly glad that Gerard hadn’t attacked him, but had instead given him one of his irresistibly sexy glares. He turned and walked off, leaving Gerard holding Mikey.
“Mikes, don’t worry me like that!” Gerard whispered in Mikey’s ear. “I know I was overreacting but I couldn’t help thinking, what if Leto was forcing you into something? I’m sure he’s capable of that!”
“We were only thirty minutes late. And I can protect myself from him. I wouldn’t do anything with him because I don’t like him that way.” Mikey quietly said.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t stop him coming on to you, does it? I’ve let too many people down Mikey, I can’t keep doing it. I know that before I cleaned up I was never there for you, and now I hate that I can’t even protect you from being eye candy for an actor who has no idea about commitment! Mikey, tell me honestly, am I a shitty brother?”
“No!” Mikey was surprised by the forcefulness in his voice, even though he speaking quietly. “You’re the best brother I could hope for! But Gee, I’m not going anywhere! We might not always want to show physical affection like we do now, but I’ll always be there for you. Just like you were always there for me when I needed you, sober or not. But you know, have you even asked Jared to back off? Because at the moment he doesn’t know why you hate him. Talk to him, Gee” Mikey finished. Gerard smiled ruefully and rested his forehead against his brother’s.
“Thanks, Mikey. I’ll give it a try. Sorry I’m so insecure.”
“You’re not insecure. You know what I think it is? Instead of worrying about prosecuting me, you’re the one hat needs protecting. Don’t you think? Gerard, we’ll find you someone who thinks you’re as wonderful as I do to be there for you whenever, okay?” Mikey said stepping back and looking Gerard in the eye.
“You old romantic,” Gerard, fully recovered now, playfully ruffled Mikey’s hair. “Come on.” They rejoined Bob, Frank and Ray and the band watched the rest of the set together.
Unknown to them, During the Way brother’s heart to heart, their three bandmates had been watching them. Ray’s attention was first drawn to them at Mikey’s ungainly return with Jared Leto, but soon he had got Frank and Bob’s attention and they had all been watching the drama together.
“Ahh!” as Gerard hugged Mikey.
“Boo!” as Gerard told Jared to go away.
“Aww!” Frank almost melted into a puddle of goo as they touched foreheads.
“This beats the cinema.” laughed Bob.
“Gerard and Mikey Way, the perfect RomCom. All we need is popcorn and soda!” Ray grinned. Frank smiled mischievously and began to sing.
“Gerard and Mikey, sitting in a tree, - oh shit, they’re coming.” The three men turned back round, smiling to themselves as the brothers broke apart and walked back to join them.

The Gerard and Mikey
Story
To be continued…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beta’d by Michiko

Okay, chapter two done. Hope you liked! Please read and review, I’m looking for any kind of feedback at all. Sorry to go on, but I really want to know if people who read this like it. xD Thanks!