These Bright Lights Have Always Blinded Me

Mikey's P.O.V.

I hummed happily to myself as I walked towards the hospital. I was about halfway there and walking through the main street when I spied my brother's car outside Crazy Creations, the very expensive art store that Gerard got his art supplies from. I frowned, he stocked up last week, so why would he need more supplies? I veered off course and walked into the shop. The little bell chimed above my head and I glanced at the cashier. It was someone I knew from previous visits with Gerard. We weren't really friends, we just...knew each other.
"Hey Mikey. Gerard's in the drawing section," Josh said lazily.
I nodded my thanks and curiously looked for Gerard.

I found him in the drawing section as Josh said and he was comparing two different art-y things with each other.
"Hey Gee," I greeted him as I walked closer.
Gerard looked up a touch surprised and then smiled warmly at me.
"Hey Mikes, what are you doing in here?" he asked.
"I was going to see Bells when I saw your car. I was curious, so sue me," I laughed.
Gerard chuckled and then looked back at the art stuff. I glanced at the prices and then did a double take.
"Holy crap Gerard! They're expensive!" I exclaimed.
He hummed, not really paying much attention. I looked at him suspiciously.
"Gerard, are you listening to me?" I asked.
He hummed again. I got the feeling he wasn't paying me any attention. That was probably because his mind was occupied about a particular girl...or because it was art.
"Frank and Ray kissed today," I said, looking at him through narrowed, calculating eyes.
Gerard nodded distractedly.
"Mom went to a strip club as well and came home with a man," I said.
Gerard nodded again, he definitely wasn't listening to me.
"Belladonna and I kissed," I said.
Gerard's head snapped up at the mention of her name and I smirked. Art my ass!
"What?!" he damn near shouted.
I cringed and covered my ears.
"Lower your voice!" I hissed.
Gerard was staring at me in disbelief.
"You and Belladonna what?!" he exclaimed.
I rolled my eyes. Poor kid had it bad.
"Gee, calm down. We didn't kiss, that'd just be gross. I was just trying to see what was your main priority," I said.
Gerard looked away but I could see the red staining his cheeks and I smirked.
"Gee-tard's in lo-ove, Gee-tard's in lo-ove," I sing-songed.
Gerard groaned and shoved me.
"I'm not in love with her, I don't love her, not any more than I love a plain, normal friend anyway and I don't like like her," he said, putting one art-y thingy-ma-bob away.
I raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Gee, even Frank can see it. He's as dense as tree," I said.
"I don't like her, okay?!" Gerard said annoyed.
"If you don't like her then how come you're paying more on her art supplies than your own?" I asked.
"Because she deserves them," Gerard said quietly.
I paused, something in his voice made me think there was an underlying meaning.
"What do you mean?" I asked, all playful joking gone from my voice.
He looked at me quizzically.
"Why doesn't she deserve top quality art supplies?" he asked.
I narrowed my eyes, Gerard only did that to avoid answering a question. An idea sparked in my mind and I decided I'd act upon the niggly feelings in my stomach.
"Hey Gerard, can you drop me off home? I forgot something," I lied.
Gerard nodded, relieved that I'd apparently dropped whatever it was that was causing him to dance around my questions. He tossed me the keys to his car and I, surprisingly, caught them.
"Wait in the car, I'll be out in a few minutes," Gerard said as we made our way to the register.
I nodded and smiled.
"Thanks Gee," I said.
"No problem Mikester," he grinned.

I quickly dashed out of the house and up the street, away from the hospital and towards Bells house. I figured Gerard would have to keep her address in his car somewhere to drive her back home. I was right as well, while he was paying for Belladonna's art stuff I had a little rummage and I found the piece of paper with her address on it. I had been having uneasy feelings about her home life for awhile so I was going to investigate it.

I had been walking for about 15 minutes when I finally came to her house. I looked around in disgust, it was truly a terrible place to live. I looked around nervously and I jammed my hands into my pockets. I walked up the path to her house and I knocked on the door. It groaned as if it were about to give way at any moment. I frowned but then wiped it away as I heard shuffling behind the door. I plastered a fake smile on my face and then the door was swung open. I masked the look of terror that overcame me as I noticed who was in the doorway. He was a big man, probably about 6'4 and he looked rough. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was a tangle. However he had mean looking scars on his face and he had big arms and a knuckle duster on his fist. He scared the living daylights out of me.
"Whaddya want?" he growled.
I gulped and cleared my throat.
"I-I'm a friend of Belladonna's a-and," I paused calming myself down and her father took the opportunity to speak.
"Where's the fuckin' slag?! Off getting fucked I suppose...useless, dirty piece of shit," he spat angrily.
I blinked in shock.
"What the hell?!" burst out of my mouth.
I immediately clapped my hands over my mouth and stared at him with wide eyes. His eyes flashed angrily and his fist clenched. I cringed as his knuckles cracked threateningly.
"You seem like a nice kid so I'm gonna give you a piece of advice. Don't waste your time on the slut. She's not worth it. Filthy, rotten mongrel she is. Nothing but bad news," he sneered.
This time it was my eyes that flashed and my fists that clenched.
"You're wrong! YOU should be in jail! You're nothing but a failure! So leave Belladonna alone!" I shouted, before I could stop myself.
His hands reached out and grabbed my collar. He picked me up so that my feet were scraping the ground. Terror peaked in my body and I started to shake.
"Don't you ever come near this house again or I'll kill you," he said his voice filled with threat.
He sounded completely sober and his voice scared the shit out of me. He shook me roughly and spat at me.
"You hear me kid?!" he shouted.
I nodded quickly, too frightened to speak. He grunted and threw me off him and stalked back inside. My back hurt from where I landed on a rock and my arms were scraped, however I didn't sit there and cry about it(not that I would if I were anywhere else), I scrambled up and got my ass outta that neighborhood.
No wonder Damien and his flock didn't scare Belladonna.

As I walked into the room where Bells was staying I smiled. She was sleeping and in her sleep her hood had fallen off. She looked so peaceful lying there I decided I wouldn't wake her. I carefully walked around to the chairs beside her bed and sat down, pulling my legs up to my chest like a small child. I rested my head on my knees and looked out the window. It was such a drab, dreary sight. Just concrete and roads and other man-made features.

Somehow it got me to thinking about Bells and her home life. I knew for sure that she was being abused, but I didn't know what to do about it. I didn't know whether to tell someone or not. I wanted to, but I felt that I should talk to Bells about it first. But then we have the issue of bringing the topic up. I had a feeling a 'hey Bells! Guess what?! I went over to your house today and met your father and he threw me to the ground like I was made of paper' wouldn't go over too well. Well, I don't think it would. I sighed and rubbed my temple. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. I saw that I had a text from Gee, yeah that's right. We had new phones that you could actually send these little messages from phone to phone on, they're so cool!
U @ the hsptl?
Gotta love my brothers amazing vocabulary.
Yes Gee. Im @ the hospital. Shes ZzZz-ing
Okay, so I'm not much better, but at least you can half-understand what I'm saying.
K. Wen U cmin home?
IDK. Not 4 awhile prolly
Mom wnts U home @ 6
K. Can U give me a lift?
Sure thing
Thnx =)
No prblm.
It then just occurred to me that maybe Gee could help me make a decision.
Gee? What do U do when u find something out about a person?
Lyk?
Something personal and life threatening. But U found out on ur own.
Is this about Bells?
Yes
And her abuse?
I looked in surprise at the message, he knew already? How long had he known?
How long have U known?
Intuitively for a couple of days. Confirmed by Bells last night though
I nodded, even though he couldn't see it.
So what do I do? I found out when I went to hers
You did WHAT?! Do you know how dangerous that place is?!
I trembled.
I do now...
Are you ok?!
Im fine. I just don't know what to do
Talk to her. It's all you can do. Shit, Ive gtg. Late 4 work.
That's ok. Thanks Gee.
Ttyl, gl.
I put my phone away and then settled back to think of what to say to her.

A wadded up paper ball broke me out of my thoughts.
Hey Mikey, what are you doing here?
I looked over and I saw Bells stretching slightly in the bed. She winced and I wondered how much of it was because of her father.
"Hey Bells, how are you feeling?" I asked, somewhat avoiding the question.
I'm okay. Kinda tired and sore, but that's to be expected. I see you failed to answer my question though.
I shifted uneasily in the chair and a flash of white caught my eye. I remembered that Gerard had bought her art supplies so I picked up the bag and held it up so she could see.
Wow. A plastic bag. Thank you so much.
I gave her a crooked smile and shook my head.
"You silly idiot. Gerard gave me these to give to you," I said.
Well I wasn't exactly lying, just, not telling all of it. Her whole body brightened up at the mention of Gerard buying her something. She clapped her hands and held out her hands like a small child. I smiled and stood up, handing her the bag. She tore into it and then her body language changed. It became one of shock before one of dismay.
"What's wrong?" I asked, frowning.
I asked Gerard to grab a tenner from my wallet and buy me art supplies at the $2 store. Stuff that's cheap so that it wouldn't be a big deal. Can he do that? Nooo...he goes off and buys me $100 worth of art supplies! I won't be able to pay him back for a long time! And I hate owing people stuff.
I raised an eyebrow at that.
"I really don't think he expects to be paid back..." I said, trailing off.
I don't care. I don't like owing people money because I can never pay anyone back. Besides, how would you know if he wanted me to pay him back or not?
"Because I saw him in the art store and talked to him before I went to yo--" I cut off there, clapping my hands over my mouth.
I wasn't meant to bring it up this way. Mind you, I didn't really know how to bring it up...I just knew it wasn't meant to be this way.
You went where?
The art supplies were abandoned on the bed and she was looking at me intensely from under the cowl of her hood. I could tell it was intense because I could feel burning in my head. I sighed defeated, the cat was pretty much out of the bag now.
"I went to your place...and met your dad..." I said, looking down.
Did he hurt you?
I guess she knew there was no point pretending anymore.
I shrugged, it wasn't really that bad.
"Nope," I said.
She tilted her head and then nodded.
Lucky bugger. You must have caught him in a good mood. Once he broke someone's jaw because they knocked on the door and interrupted him while he was in a bad mood. We never got another pizza delivery after that.
I gulped, that was him in a good mood?
I shivered at the thought of catching him in a bad mood.
You can't tell the authorities. They'll take me away and put me in a foster home where they'll shower me in fake love and pity. And my parents will slowly die and rot away.
I stared at her incredulously, slack jawed.
"How on Earth can you expect me to not tell the police about how you get beaten senseless?!" I hissed.
She crossed her arms.
"And who fucking CARES if your parents rot away! I care more about you than I do about your parents!" I hissed in annoyance.
Mikey...please...I'm begging you. I have a little less than a year to go. I'll be fine.
I looked at her and rubbed my eyes tiredly.
"Fine...I won't tell anyone," I sighed.
She smiled and opened up her arms for a hug. I smiled and gave her a hug back.
For now...