My Favorite Part Was Dying

Gerard looked groggily at the digital clock on his desk. 7:34. He sighed and stood up in his bed, throwing the covers off of him.

"Hey, Gee," Mikey's voice said to him. Gerard almost fell out of bed in shock.

"Mikey!" he exclaimed when he had calmed down a bit. "You're back," he smiled and stood up, hugging the figure of his brother. "Why did you wait so long? I missed you!" he demanded, releasing Mikey.

"Sorry, I can't make too many visits, I'm not supposed to see you at all, but I have to." he said vaguely.

"What do you mean? Where are you when you're not here?" Gerard asked, suddenly uneasy.

"Hell." Mikey said simply.

"What?!" Gerard was horrified.

"Just kidding," Mikey grinned, looking like his old lively self. Gerard lightly punched him on the arm.

"Don't kid about that," he sighed. Mikey just continued to grin, Gerard couldn't help but join him.

"So... how's your after-life going?" Gerard asked, he was filled with a great sense of elation at the sight of his brother. After not seeing him for four days it felt like he had really come back from the dead and was here to stay.

"Dude, I can't tell you that! It's so top secret, kind of annoying actually. Although, if it's Heaven, it's a looks a lot like Earth. Well, except it doesn't have violence and all the crap that complicates life."

"Well that's good, I mean if you're dead, life stuff shouldn't be complicating things." Gee mused. Mikey giggled. Gerard closed his eyes and just listened to his brother's little laugh, he had missed it more than he realized.

"Okay, tell me more," Gerard demanded.

"Ugh, I can't. I've already told you way too much." Mikey said firmly.

"Oh, come on!" Gerard whined, his hazel eyes doing a perfect imitation of a puppy dog's. Mikey smirked and shook his head. But a second later his smirk was gone, replaced by a grimace.

"I gotta go. I'm sorry," he said as he began to fade once again.

"Wait! Will you come back?!" Gerard called out to him, but he was gone. The joy he had felt moments ago died away. He was all alone again.

* * *

He was in the car with his father, on his way to school once again.

"I know this is hard for you, Gerard. But you need to get back to interacting with people. I don't want you cooped up in your room forever. Your friends miss you, they called every day you were out." Donald said softly. Gerard nodded silently, he understood his father's decision to push him back into the real world but he despised him for it all the same.

He went to his usual seat for homeroom in the back of the room. He was early, no one else had arrived yet but he noticed one empty chair more than any other: the one right next to him, where Mikey used to sit. A few minutes later students began to trickle in, nobody speaking to Gerard. He didn't mind, silence was better than the usual taunting he endured.

He didn't look like the average kid; shoulder-length black hair, dark eyelashes that made him look as though he wore makeup, about thirty pounds overweight. He was ridiculed on a daily basis. But it usually didn't get to him too much, he had Bob, Ray, Frank, and Mikey. They didn't care what he looked like, they loved him for who he was, just like he loved them. They were just some of the outcasts, outcasts that had banded together and were happy enough with their lives, up until recently anyway.

He had laughed and joked, he seemed more real then the other times he had come to Gerard. And it stung. It stung because it was a lie. He almost didn't know what would be worse, never seeing Mikey again or seeing him, glimpses of him, torturing him, showing him what he couldn't have. He sighed, pulling himself from his melancholy reverie.

Oh come on, Gerard. You have a wonderful day of school ahead of you! he thought sarcastically to himself.