Demolition Lovers

I spent the rest of September very mundanely. Working at Barnes and Noble's was a habit, so they eventually hired me and got rid of Gerard since he was 'terrible at customer service'. Hah. While I worked, Gerard spent the days at DC Comics as a 'photocopy boy' and frequently brought home black-and-white photocopies of unreleased comic books that Mikey and Gerard practically salivated over, while I made fun of them.

One sunny day, Mikey and I left work early. Gerard, Mikey and I went out for pizza, grabbing a pickup order and eating in Central Park. The weather was beautiful, and I'd almost forgotten what autumn in the city was like - crisply cool weather, sunny skies, golden brown leaves and dewy grass that made your butt wet. Gerard and Mikey drank a Heineken each while I settled for a diet Pepsi, as we all sat on the grass eating the authentic Italian pizza, watching a bunch of little kids scrape up some leaves with a rake and jump into the piles, one by one.

Gerard and Mikey chuckled, and I watched with a fond expression - we had memories of doing the same thing, except we lived in the suburbs. Finally finishing up the last of the pizza, we got up to leave - when Gerard found someone he knew.

"Matt! Hey!" He called out, and a tall, beefy looking guy turned around and smiled at Gerard and Mikey. He had short, cropped brown hair, a strong jaw, broad shoulders and a tall stature.

"Hey, Gee." He grinned, jogging over to us as Mikey picked up the empty pizza box to throw out. When Mikey turned around, he walked towards Gerard and picked him up in a rib-crushing embrace. "Dude, I haven't seen you in so damn long!" he all but yelled, while Gerard's face turned a shade of pale, powder blue as I watched on in alarm.

"Can't. Breathe."

Matt dropped him when Gerard managed to choke out those two words. I studied this man - he was tall, taller than Gerard by a full head at least, and still would have been tall even without his confidence, the way he held himself. I found myself staring up at him instead of eye-level, and guessed he was around six one.

"It's been a while!" He high-fived Mikey, who promptly missed, and slapped Gerard on the shoulder. "How you been?"

"Been trying to find you." Gerard deadpanned, brushing off invisible dust and lint from his other shoulder. "I want to start a band again."

Matt stared at Gerard. He seemed... hesitant? "Well, I thought you were going to be an artist."

"I wanna try starting a band again. I haven't been in one for a while."

"Are you sure?" Matt asked, looking concerned now. Silence surrounded us, as a loud group of hispanic teenagers with a boom-box blaring 'Get Ur Freak On' walked past, laughing loudly. It clashed with the aura surrounding our small little group, which was a mixture of worry, frustration and confusion, mostly on my end.

"I've got a good feeling about it." He replied, shrugging.

"Well, if you want to... we could start playing at my place. You got anything written?" He asked, brows furrowed and arms crossed.

"I had a song written, but I don't have it with me."

"Well then, we should meet at my place. How's two-thirty next week? I'm busy all week long."

"Sure, sure." Gerard shrugged, and Mikey and I stared at Gerard. Had he gone insane? Maybe. Would he really go out of the house for this supposed song?

Most likely.

-

It was October now. The last rays of sun brushed at my red cheeks, as I stared up at the sky. I hadn't seen Gerard very much, excluding our impromptu "terrible direct-to-television movie" nights when we'd stay up until three in the morning watching said movies and cuddling on the couch, my head usually on his shoulder or lap. We hadn't moved anywhere past that, not even so much as a kiss, and I was fine with this.

Anyways, I returned my attention to the flock of pidgeons at my feet, pecking away at the sandwich crumbs I'd tossed onto the ground in tiny pieces for the birds. I threw the last of the torn-up bread onto the pavement and stepped up onto my feet, dusting off my lap, starting towards the subway, Metro Card in hand.

I was soon engulfed in the sidewalk, crowds of people swarming around me - business people, families, tourists, artist types, and more - and I watched each person. A woman talking briskly into a cellphone. A young child running to catch up with someone. A -

Someone gripped me on the shoulder and I audibly gasped, feeling every nerve in my body freeze up. It wasn't until I turned around that I realized it was Mikey, and I breathed heavily, nearly having a panic attack. "Don't. Do that." I managed to gasp, bending over.

"Well," Mikey started, "Since you weren't at home, or at your job, I figured you might be at that new place Callie bought you - aren't you going to do anything with that?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. I shrugged, feeling the cold metal key press against my leg in the pocket of my jeans.

"Callie said it was a gift to me, which means she'll be paying the rent. I don't have to live in it, and besides, she has all the paperwork for it, so I can't sell it, either. Technically, she's renting out a really expensive penthouse-slash-art-studio to me for free." I pointed out, starting back towards the subway. "I was actually headed back h-" I caught myself then. Not home. It was Gerard's home. "to your home." I finished after an awkward pause, shrugging.

"Cool. Can we stop at Starbucks first?" He asked, and I rolled my eyes. "Fine."