Fic: Brothers in Arms
Brothers in Arms
PG-13 | 1, 379
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS (THELEMIC)!!
Mikey rubbed his eyes while he watched Gerard move around the room. Every time the chairs Gerard dragged across the room made too loud of a squeaking sound, Gerard stopped and shook his head before trying to drag them a little further. Mikey gave up pretending he was asleep after he saw this happen a few times, blowing his cover by giggling into his blanket. Gerard walked over to Mikey’s bed and tugged hard on the covers.
“Help me with this.” Gerard looked down at Mikey.
“I’m good,” Mikey said with a pout to his lips. He got up, anyway, and shivered without the warm blanket around him. Gerard left Mikey standing by his bed. Instead, he took Mikey’s blanket and draped it across a chair.
“Hey, help me with this,” Gerard whispered, not acknowledging Mikey that time. But Mikey obeyed, quickly hovering over by Gerard’s side. This made Gerard laugh out, completely breaking any sort of looming silence that might have not been touched by their whispering. Gerard gently pushed Mikey into the direction of the other chair. “That way, Mikey. Yeah, take that end of that blanket. Okay, just put it over those two chairs right there. Yeah, yeah, okay. Hold it right there, I’m going to find something.”
Gerard wandered off over to their bookshelf, took a couple heavy books and dropped them onto each chair. The grin on his face was wide with pride and when he looked over to Mikey, his eyes shone bright, that Mikey couldn’t help but genuinely smile back. Gerard took hold of Mikey’s wrist and gently tugged Mikey close to his side.
“It’s a fort,” Gerard explained. He wrapped an arm around Mikey’s shoulders and placed a kiss onto the top of Mikey’s head. “Our fort.”
“Our fort,” Mikey repeated softly.
“Come on, let’s go in.” Gerard got down on his knees and extended out his hand for Mikey.
Over the years, their forts had gotten a lot more complex. A lot more materials were used and sometimes they’ve managed to make standing forts that stretched across their room. This particular fort was a bit of a maze, each of them having to crawl through the bottoms of chairs and stools and carefully avoid some “weights” and pillows that helped support their blankets, while entering and exiting their fort.
Gerard made sure they took in everything they needed that night before settling in for good, almost making a list until Mikey finally just dragged Gerard towards the entrance of their fort.
“Mom’s going to yell at you for getting crumbs all over the floor again.” Gerard curled by Mikey’s side and drew out his latest great idea. He never really finished them, coming out with something “even better” by the time he went through the second or third page. Mikey stuck out his tongue in response to Gerard, showing the chewed up cookie in his mouth. “Don’t get any of that cookie on my drawings or I’ll kill you.”
“Are those zombie pirates? They look funny.” Mikey spoke with his mouth full and pointed at Gerard’s drawing. He made sure not to touch the picture, though, thinking Gerard might kill him if he did that too.
“What’s wrong with them?” Gerard asked in defense. Mikey simply stared and him before Gerard rolled his eyes and sighed, “Okay, fine.”
When Gerard moved his drawing off to the side, Mikey took hold of the flashlight. He waved the light in Gerard’s eyes, making Gerard grunt and hide his face into Mikey’s side. Mikey flashed the light in his own eyes before he called, quietly and soft, “Gerard-“
“Hmm?”
“What’s middle school like?”
“Mmm, it’s like -“ Gerard removed his face from Mikey’s side and bit his bottom lip in thought. “Uhh, it’s boring, lame. It’s not really what I thought it was going to be.”
“You should come back to school with me.” Mikey frowned. Gerard didn’t respond, making him believe that maybe Gerard was seriously thinking about it. What Gerard did was gently poke Mikey on the side, and Mikey giggled and reach over to tickle Gerard back.
Their room never seemed well lit anymore; Mikey hardly ever spent time in there, always doing his homework in front of the TV or in the kitchen while he mom cooked. He hardly ever saw Gerard, too. Only when Gerard had already crashed down in his bed - sometimes Mikey’s bed - and was well passed out from all the alcohol in his system.
It was raining the night Mikey tried to make his own fort: dark, cold, wet - it was a shit of a cliché. The fort was simple, a blanket over three chairs in the middle of his room. But Mikey just stared at it, frustrated, and went to sleep in his own bed instead.
Gerard came in a few hours later, fumbling down the stairs and not taking any consideration on being too loud. Mikey didn’t wake up, though, until he heard Gerard crash into Mikey’s fort. Mikey jumped out of bed and over to Gerard’s side.
“Gerard, you fucking dumbass,” Mikey cried.
But Gerard had passed out already in the mess of Mikey’s destroyed fort.
Mikey went with Gerard to stay the weekend at their mother’s house. He knew that their mother hated that they hardly visited, but every time Mikey stepped into that house, his chest would hurt from overwhelmed emotions. Mikey would think about their grandmother, think about Gerard, then he would remember how bad everything had gotten. And maybe Mikey would have gone that day anyway, but he honestly wanted to be there then.
It was Gerard’s first week sober. One week, Mikey thought. He didn’t know how Gerard felt and he couldn’t read Gerard’s mind as easily as he could when they were younger, but Mikey was glad he didn’t have to see Gerard shake and cry with withdrawal anymore. More importantly, he was glad he didn’t have to see Gerard loose himself in drugs and alcohol anymore.
Maybe one week wasn’t enough to start celebrating, but it was diffidently worth a mention.
That night, Mikey watched Gerard from across the room tossing and turning in bed. Gerard’s cry hurt Mikey in the heart, but he couldn’t help but just watch in the side. And Mikey didn’t know how long he watched, but eventually he climbed out of bed, taking his blanket with him.
He managed to carefully build a fort and stood back to admire his work. Mikey then walked over to Gerard and gently woke him from his sleep.
“Look,” Mikey said. He pointed over to his fort with one hand while he kept the other hand resting on Gerard’s shoulder. “A fort, our fort.”
“Our fort,” Gerard repeated, smiling.
They’re no longer confined in the small space of their basement room. Gerard’s apartment is plenty wide, sunshine pouring through windows in every room. Still, Mikey tries to sleep in the same room with Gerard whenever he comes to visit for a night or two. They never do and, despite Mikey’s attempts to at least have the good bed, he’s always crashing out on the fold out mattress in Gerard’s sofa.
Sometimes Gerard wakes Mikey up in the middle of the night and they spend the next hour trying to build the ultimate fort, stretching across the living room. This visit, they keep it simple and the fort is only big enough for them to fit their legs into. They’re curled up against each other, waiting out to see if one of them will stop being lazy enough to go get a pack of smokes from the kitchen.
“I don’t think either of us are getting up,” Gerard says, laughing into Mikey’s sleeve. Mikey laughs, too, not looking away from the ceiling. They go into another comfortable silence and Gerard is starting to feel sleep take over his body and mind.
“Gerard?” Mikey whispers, even though they’re the only ones there. Gerard looks up, rests his chin on Mikey’s arm, and waits for him to continue. “You know I love you, right?”
“Yeah, I know,” Gerard automatically replies. He laughs too - softly, then kisses Mikey on his arm, through his sleeve. “Love you too.”
Mikey rolls his eyes and playfully pushes Gerard off of him.
PG-13 | 1, 379
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS (THELEMIC)!!
Mikey rubbed his eyes while he watched Gerard move around the room. Every time the chairs Gerard dragged across the room made too loud of a squeaking sound, Gerard stopped and shook his head before trying to drag them a little further. Mikey gave up pretending he was asleep after he saw this happen a few times, blowing his cover by giggling into his blanket. Gerard walked over to Mikey’s bed and tugged hard on the covers.
“Help me with this.” Gerard looked down at Mikey.
“I’m good,” Mikey said with a pout to his lips. He got up, anyway, and shivered without the warm blanket around him. Gerard left Mikey standing by his bed. Instead, he took Mikey’s blanket and draped it across a chair.
“Hey, help me with this,” Gerard whispered, not acknowledging Mikey that time. But Mikey obeyed, quickly hovering over by Gerard’s side. This made Gerard laugh out, completely breaking any sort of looming silence that might have not been touched by their whispering. Gerard gently pushed Mikey into the direction of the other chair. “That way, Mikey. Yeah, take that end of that blanket. Okay, just put it over those two chairs right there. Yeah, yeah, okay. Hold it right there, I’m going to find something.”
Gerard wandered off over to their bookshelf, took a couple heavy books and dropped them onto each chair. The grin on his face was wide with pride and when he looked over to Mikey, his eyes shone bright, that Mikey couldn’t help but genuinely smile back. Gerard took hold of Mikey’s wrist and gently tugged Mikey close to his side.
“It’s a fort,” Gerard explained. He wrapped an arm around Mikey’s shoulders and placed a kiss onto the top of Mikey’s head. “Our fort.”
“Our fort,” Mikey repeated softly.
“Come on, let’s go in.” Gerard got down on his knees and extended out his hand for Mikey.
Over the years, their forts had gotten a lot more complex. A lot more materials were used and sometimes they’ve managed to make standing forts that stretched across their room. This particular fort was a bit of a maze, each of them having to crawl through the bottoms of chairs and stools and carefully avoid some “weights” and pillows that helped support their blankets, while entering and exiting their fort.
Gerard made sure they took in everything they needed that night before settling in for good, almost making a list until Mikey finally just dragged Gerard towards the entrance of their fort.
“Mom’s going to yell at you for getting crumbs all over the floor again.” Gerard curled by Mikey’s side and drew out his latest great idea. He never really finished them, coming out with something “even better” by the time he went through the second or third page. Mikey stuck out his tongue in response to Gerard, showing the chewed up cookie in his mouth. “Don’t get any of that cookie on my drawings or I’ll kill you.”
“Are those zombie pirates? They look funny.” Mikey spoke with his mouth full and pointed at Gerard’s drawing. He made sure not to touch the picture, though, thinking Gerard might kill him if he did that too.
“What’s wrong with them?” Gerard asked in defense. Mikey simply stared and him before Gerard rolled his eyes and sighed, “Okay, fine.”
When Gerard moved his drawing off to the side, Mikey took hold of the flashlight. He waved the light in Gerard’s eyes, making Gerard grunt and hide his face into Mikey’s side. Mikey flashed the light in his own eyes before he called, quietly and soft, “Gerard-“
“Hmm?”
“What’s middle school like?”
“Mmm, it’s like -“ Gerard removed his face from Mikey’s side and bit his bottom lip in thought. “Uhh, it’s boring, lame. It’s not really what I thought it was going to be.”
“You should come back to school with me.” Mikey frowned. Gerard didn’t respond, making him believe that maybe Gerard was seriously thinking about it. What Gerard did was gently poke Mikey on the side, and Mikey giggled and reach over to tickle Gerard back.
Their room never seemed well lit anymore; Mikey hardly ever spent time in there, always doing his homework in front of the TV or in the kitchen while he mom cooked. He hardly ever saw Gerard, too. Only when Gerard had already crashed down in his bed - sometimes Mikey’s bed - and was well passed out from all the alcohol in his system.
It was raining the night Mikey tried to make his own fort: dark, cold, wet - it was a shit of a cliché. The fort was simple, a blanket over three chairs in the middle of his room. But Mikey just stared at it, frustrated, and went to sleep in his own bed instead.
Gerard came in a few hours later, fumbling down the stairs and not taking any consideration on being too loud. Mikey didn’t wake up, though, until he heard Gerard crash into Mikey’s fort. Mikey jumped out of bed and over to Gerard’s side.
“Gerard, you fucking dumbass,” Mikey cried.
But Gerard had passed out already in the mess of Mikey’s destroyed fort.
Mikey went with Gerard to stay the weekend at their mother’s house. He knew that their mother hated that they hardly visited, but every time Mikey stepped into that house, his chest would hurt from overwhelmed emotions. Mikey would think about their grandmother, think about Gerard, then he would remember how bad everything had gotten. And maybe Mikey would have gone that day anyway, but he honestly wanted to be there then.
It was Gerard’s first week sober. One week, Mikey thought. He didn’t know how Gerard felt and he couldn’t read Gerard’s mind as easily as he could when they were younger, but Mikey was glad he didn’t have to see Gerard shake and cry with withdrawal anymore. More importantly, he was glad he didn’t have to see Gerard loose himself in drugs and alcohol anymore.
Maybe one week wasn’t enough to start celebrating, but it was diffidently worth a mention.
That night, Mikey watched Gerard from across the room tossing and turning in bed. Gerard’s cry hurt Mikey in the heart, but he couldn’t help but just watch in the side. And Mikey didn’t know how long he watched, but eventually he climbed out of bed, taking his blanket with him.
He managed to carefully build a fort and stood back to admire his work. Mikey then walked over to Gerard and gently woke him from his sleep.
“Look,” Mikey said. He pointed over to his fort with one hand while he kept the other hand resting on Gerard’s shoulder. “A fort, our fort.”
“Our fort,” Gerard repeated, smiling.
They’re no longer confined in the small space of their basement room. Gerard’s apartment is plenty wide, sunshine pouring through windows in every room. Still, Mikey tries to sleep in the same room with Gerard whenever he comes to visit for a night or two. They never do and, despite Mikey’s attempts to at least have the good bed, he’s always crashing out on the fold out mattress in Gerard’s sofa.
Sometimes Gerard wakes Mikey up in the middle of the night and they spend the next hour trying to build the ultimate fort, stretching across the living room. This visit, they keep it simple and the fort is only big enough for them to fit their legs into. They’re curled up against each other, waiting out to see if one of them will stop being lazy enough to go get a pack of smokes from the kitchen.
“I don’t think either of us are getting up,” Gerard says, laughing into Mikey’s sleeve. Mikey laughs, too, not looking away from the ceiling. They go into another comfortable silence and Gerard is starting to feel sleep take over his body and mind.
“Gerard?” Mikey whispers, even though they’re the only ones there. Gerard looks up, rests his chin on Mikey’s arm, and waits for him to continue. “You know I love you, right?”
“Yeah, I know,” Gerard automatically replies. He laughs too - softly, then kisses Mikey on his arm, through his sleeve. “Love you too.”
Mikey rolls his eyes and playfully pushes Gerard off of him.