It Was a Lie When They Smiled

"DAMN IT!" Mikey punched the wall. I feared that he'd break his fingers, so I jumped up off the couch and caught his next blow. He was gritting his teeth, and clutching the phone in his hand so tightly I was silently waiting for it to break apart. When Mikey was furious enough to hit things/people, it was bad. Really fucking bad.

"Let me go, Gerard! I need to hit something!" He jerked but I held firm. Years of wrestling in the living room paid off and I was glad. Mikey was like a feline. Even though he could tolerate a lot, once he went over the edge, he was quick to pounce and slow to stop. Revenge was a top priority. Cat-like for sure.

"Idiot! You'll break your freaking hand like that!" I whacked him over the head and he totally fell for it. He punched me right in the face. If you think about it, this is what brothers are really for─anger management. I'd get over the pain and he'd get a real person to hit. Much more satisfactory than hitting a wall.

The sound echoed through the dressing room. Since Mikey and I always talked a while before a show, we were alone. My cheek hurt and burned a bit, but I laughed and smacked him in the head again. I'd never lost to Mikey, so I knew I'd be fine if he got too out of hand.

Mikey aimed for my stomach, but I hit his hand out of the way. Stomach was off limits, seeing as it could cause some major damage if hit hard enough. His next shot was at my face again. He hit my nose and other cheek this time. Then, he seemed to calm down a bit since all he did was hit my chest with some harmless shots.

"Thanks."

"Welcome. That's what I'm here for."

"I just can't believe they haven't found anything on this creep. And the chick on the phone was such a bitch, and..." He trailed off.

"Yeah, I know. C'mon, little brother. We've got a show to play." I put my arm around his shoulder and he returned the gesture. We walked out into the hallway together to meet the rest of the gang.

"I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?" he asked, looking concerned and a bit guilty.

"Of course not." Actually, my face felt pretty bad, but it wouldn't swell or anything, so it was fine.

Mikey and I walked into the room next to the stage. Delilah, Kierstyn and Ashley were talking to each other. Frank and Ray were running over chords, judging by the way they were messing with their guitars. And Bob was working on his air drumming skills. Ash was laughing but once she stopped and spotted Mikey, she ran to him.

“Hey,” she said happily as if she hadn’t seen him in years. She embraced him tightly with a big hug.

“Hey, babe,” Mikey replied, hugging her back. “What’s gotten into you?”

“A few energy drinks,” she replied. I laughed.

“Who’d you get them from?” I asked. Ash pulled way from Mikey. She smiled at me and then quickly glanced at Frank.

“Of course,” Mikey sighed.

I decided to let the two talk about whatever they needed to talk about. I walked over to Kierstyn and Delilah who were sitting across the room, giggling. Kierstyn looked up at me and smiled. She stood up and gave me a hug.

“Is there some hugging holiday going on that I don’t know about?” I asked.

“No?” replied Delilah. I hugged Kierstyn back, nice and tight. The smell of her hair was sweet like some sort of fruit, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I just smiled and hugged her tighter. Dee got up, “Fine then. I’ll go give my husband a hug!”

Kierstyn laughed and looked up at me. I gave her a quick kiss. Grinning, she pulled away and sat down, then patted the open spot next to her. I sat down and looked at her.

“What’s going on with this whole stalker thing?” she asked quietly.

“I have no clue, Kier. It’s really pissing Mikey off though. He really wants this guy to get found and get thrown into a butt rape hall.”

“You mean prison?”

“Same thing. How’s Ash doing with this whole situation?”

“She’s worried,” Kierstyn sighed. “She’s afraid that what happened to Delilah is going to happen to her. Or us.”

“A lot of things happened to Delilah…” I replied. Suddenly, I realized how true that statement was. So much shit had happened to Dee in the last few years and yet… I turned away from Kierstyn for a moment to look at Delilah. And yet, there she is, laughing and holding Frank, giving him a kiss here and there. She was somehow still able to be happy.

Kierstyn's voice brought my head back around to face her. "The first thing that happened to Delilah. When she wasn't a member of the band yet, there was that psycho that got on the bus…"

“Ooh! That! God, that was so long ago! I almost completely forgot about it. I doubt that'll happen though. She shouldn't worry."

“Well, she does. And I don't think anything you say can stop her from doing so."

“Well—“

“Excuse me,” someone said, interrupting me. “Gerard?”

I turned around. A young teenage girl and another guy were standing next to me. I smiled and stood up.

“Yep. What can I do for ya?” I asked. The girl smiled and laughed nervously. Her white cheeks slowly began to turn red. Eventually she spoke up and asked for a picture. Afterwards, I also signed her shirt. The guy just smiled at me. I smiled back. His grin never left his face.

“Hey, do you know where Mikey’s at?” he asked.

I looked around. “He should be…”

“He’s with over there with Ash and the rest," Kierstyn spoke up from behind me. The young girl gave me a hug and thanked while the guy walked over towards Mikey and Ashley. I turned around and sat down next to Kierstyn again. She just looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. I scrunched my eyebrows together.

“What?”

"What the hell happened to your face?!" she practically screeched. Oh shit, my face must have bruised while I was talking to those fans. My back had been turned to her.

"Um…" Lie or truth, lie or truth? Lie? I can't think of one! Truth? Then everyone would know Mikey had gotten angry and pester him. Totally lying. "Nothing."

"Nothing?! Gerard! Come here!" She dragged me over a random mirror on the wall. Oh shit, Mikey. You've gotten stronger.

My cheek and nose were black and purple. My other cheek, from his first punch, was the same, but with slight tints of green here and there.

"Holy shit, man, what happened to you?" Ray came up behind me and met my eyes in the mirror. He put his hand on my shoulder. "Looks like you got in a street fight. Jesus…" Frank had come over as well. He raised an eyebrow and I looked back at him and bit my cheek. Somehow, even though I hadn't known him nearly as long as Toro, he got it. Somehow he knew what had happened.

"We got in a fight."

Ray turned to Frank. "What?! Why?"

"We've haven't been getting much sleep and an argument over eyeliner just spiraled out of control. Everything's cool now, though."

"Cool? Jesus Christ, Frankie you kicked his ass!" Kierstyn said and hit his arm.

"He kicked my balls. I think we're even." Frank threw me a wink while no one was looking.

"Oh, that's just what I wanted to picture. Thanks, Frankie. I swear to God, guys are so…" Kierstyn's voice trailed off as she stormed off. Ray followed her, laughing.

"Thanks you little shrimp." I grinned and he easily returned it.

"As long as you and Mikey are okay, I don't mind."