FicWad

'Surprise!’ The hazy crowd screamed on his arrival
I don’t think I’ve seen him so happy so far. The grin on his face refused to disappear as he led me through the groups of people, half of which I did not know. I felt especially awkward as I had yet to unlink from him so we were still holding hands as we worked our way around. Some people stared and whispered, some asking each other who I was. I searched for a familiar face and found one, no, six, huddled around the alcohol table. As if I couldn’t have guessed that one.

Patrick’s grip tighened as we approached because, hello!, it’s Frank Freakin Iero, as I heard him cry once before. Frank was happy to be there for a dear fan and ex colleague. He took a step towards us, reaching out to put a hand on Patrick’s shoulder.

‘Alright man?’ Frank asked, having to yell over the music

‘Yeah, thanks, you?’ Patrick answered, leaning closer to be able to heard properly

‘I’m good,’ Frank smiled, nodding at me, ‘Happy Birthday’

‘Thank you’ Patrick retorted, thumb rubbing the back of my hand, ‘Glad you could make it’

‘No problem’ He replied, pointing at me, ‘Pete gave me a call, trying to get Pencey to play for you’

Patrick squeaked and turned to look at me. I smiled and shrugged, not really used to people being thankful. Frank’s head dropped a little, about to give the bad news.

‘Unfortunately dude’ Frank sighed, ‘Pencey just split…’

‘Oh..’ Patrick was a little disapointed, ‘Sucks’

‘Yeah, but I’m here with my new band if you still want us to play’ Frank added, pointing at the guys behind him,

‘Oh… Of course’ Patrick smiled courteously, looking at the group of men behind Frank

Frank grabbed out randomly choosing one of the men to introduce first. I choked slightly in shock. I couldn’t believe it.

‘Hamster boy!’ I laughed, high-fiving Gerard who was on the end Frank’s arm

‘Hey… Computer hater!’ Gerard returned, smiling at Patrick, ‘Hey, I’m Gerard. I used to work with Pete. Happy birthday’

‘Hey, Patrick’ Patrick nodded, ‘Pete’s boyfriend. Thanks for coming’

I blushed, kinda hoping I could have had the chance to reveal that to my ex coworkers a little more delicately. I cringed a little. Gerard laughed at me.

‘Awww Petey’ He ruffled my hair, ‘It’s about time’

‘Whaaa..t?’ I was stunned

‘Dude.. It was obvious’ He whispered in my ear, I shoved his chest

‘Asshole’ I mumbled, making Patrick laugh, ‘So.. Band huh?’

‘Yeps’ Gerard nodded and pointed behind him with his thumb, ‘Ray’s here too and Bob’

I waved at them, they acknowledged me with a slight movement of their head before returning to their heated discussion. I shook my head, I never really understood those two. Turning my attention to a mousy boy huddled directly behind Gerard, I tilted my head to the side. He was shy looking, a pair of black square glasses pressed up his nose and a long brown fringe falling neatly near his eyes. He was thin. Very thin. You could practically see all of his bones through his black t-shirt.

‘Who’s that?’ I ask quietly to Gerard, so that the other boy didn’t hear

Gerard turned around and looked at the boy behind him. The boy looked up through his spectacles before staring at his feet again.

‘That?’ Gerard questioned, pointing at the kid who seemed to wish the ground would swallow him, ‘That’s my brother Mikey’

I almost laughed in his face. There’s no way that those two were related! Gerard was quite chubby and very very loud when he wanted to be and Mikey, well, he was his opposite. They didn’t even look vaguely like eachother. Gerard’s eyes a light hazel while Mikey’s a misty green.

‘Your brother?’ I snorted, staring in awe, ‘But he’s so….’

Gerard stared at me eagerly waiting to hit me. You see, with this sentence or rather half sentence, I’m trapped. If I say something bad about Mikey then Gerard would hit me for making fun of his brother. If I say something good about Mikey then I’m implying that Gerard is the opposite hence, Gerard will hit me. Before stopping to think I admit I was about to say beautiful. Mikey was beautiful. It was true, a fact. His features were feminine but he also had a strong jaw. I decided to run with another word in an attempt to save face.

‘Quiet’ I decide to go with, nodding in agreement with myself

‘Yeah,’ Gerard grinned at no-one in particular, ‘He is.. when sober’

Mikey shook his head and blushed. Before I got a chance to say much else, Patrick was dragging me away and toward the direction of Joe and Andy who were stood at the back. I wasn’t sure how I’d missed them before, Joe was waving like he was on fire.

‘PAAAAAAAAAATRIIIIIIICCCCKKKK!’ He called, over everyone, even the loud music

‘JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEE!’ Andy shouted in his ear, ‘YOOOOOOOOUURRR BEEEEEIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGG TOOOOOOOO LLLLLOOOOOOOUUUUUDD!’

Joe screamed, clutching his one hand over his ear and batting at Andy with the other. Before long Andy had disappear, awash in the sea of teenagers. Joe would have given chase if Patrick hadn’t grabbed him, calling out ‘He’s not worth it’ in the most dramatic voice he could muster up. Joe’s shoulders slumped, he sighed then faced Patrick.

‘Pattyboi!’ Joe greeted him, best gangster impression he had, ‘Sup?’

‘Nothing much homey’ Patrick played along, bumping his chest against Joe’s, I rolled my eyes

‘Teenagers’ I sighed

‘Shut up oldie’ Joe hissed, tongue out, ‘You’ve just forgotten what it’s like to be young’

‘When you hit puberty get back to me on that’ I snorted, pulling on his afro

Patrick hooted loudly, having to hold on to me cause he was laughing so hard. I didn’t even know what he found so funny until I saw Joe slowly jimmying down his pants. My jaw dropped.

‘No! No! No!’ I cried, covering my eyes, ‘I take it back! I don’t need proof!’

Joe nodded but still let his pants hang halfway around his ass. He then turned his attention behind me and raised his hand up in the air in the form of a thumbs up. He excused himself and walked over to the micstand prepared at the front of a makeshift stage. He tapped it a couple of times, sending a small echo around the room.

‘Testing..’ Joe called into the microphone, tapping it somemore, ‘Hey everybody!’

The crowd responded with a jumbled answer that sounded just like one loud grunt. My eyes skimmed over them, seeing a woman working her way towards us. I smiled.

‘Bexz!’ I shouted at her, she waved, moving quicker

‘Hey Petezac!’ She hugged me, embracing me swiftly then moving to Patrick, ‘Happy Birthday hun’

‘Thanks’ Patrick blushed, having only met Rebecca once

‘Hey Pete…’ She lowered her tone and spoke gently in my ear, ‘My husband doesn’t know I’m here’

‘Why not?’ I asked, mimicking her tone

‘Cause he wouldn’t have let me come if I told him’ She sighed

‘Again, why not?’ I repeated, curious

‘He… doesn’t like me going out without him..’ She smiled, ‘And I wasn’t exactly going to bring him with me’

I nodded, not sure what to say. She lifted a bag that she held in her hand and opened it for me to see. She’d brought some spirits with her. Nice. Handing them to Patrick, who thanked her instantly, we three stared at the stage where Joe was introducing the band.

‘Live, exclusivly for Patrick’s birthday,’ Joe shouted, in his announcer voice, ‘I give you… My Chemical Romance!’

Joe made a quick exit stage left and dropped himself besides Rebecca. He smiled at the three of us as the band set themselves up. Gerard took over and I couldn’t help but see how Rebecca’s eyes seemed to light up. I shook my head, gripping Patrick’s hand and pulling him closer.
‘Good Evening!’ Gerard bellowed, voice husky and low, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, for our first song tonight, I’m going to go for my personal favorite…’

The horde seemed to pulsate at the sound of his voice. It was electrifying. The way he played the swarm into his hands and the way the responded before they even started to play. Pete buzzed.

‘So turn to your parents, your teachers, your fucking psychiatrists… You look them in the eye and you tell them..’ Gerard continued, riling up the audience, screaming the last few words, ‘I’m Not O-Fucking-Kay!’

When the music kicked in, Mikey clutching his bass, Bob hammering the drums and Frank and Ray strumming their electric guitars I felt my head explode. The power in the beat alone was immense. There was this terrible feeling of intimacy combined with danger. Gerard gripped hard on the mic.

‘Well if you wanted honesty,
That's all you had to say
I never want to let you down or have you go,
It's better off this way!
For all the dirty looks,
The photographs your boyfriend took,
Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor

I'm not okay,
I'm not okay,
I'm not okay,
You wear me out.

what will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems?
I've told you time and time again, you sing the words
But don't know what it means
To be a joke and look
Another line without a hook
I held you close as we both shook for the last time,
Take a good hard look!

I'm not okay,
I'm not okay,
I'm not okay,
You wear me out.

Forget about the dirty looks,
The photographs your boyfriend took,
You said you'd read me like a book,
But the pages all are torn and frayed!

I'm okay...
I'm okay!
I'm okay, now
But you really need to listen to me,
because I'm telling you the truth
I mean this.
I'm okay!


I'm not okay
I'm not okay
Well, I'm not okay,
I'm not o-fuckin'-kay!
I'm not okay,
I'm not okay!’