Let Me Go Back To Sleep

Two years later…

“Lynn…” Shannon said. “Lynn…” She repeated, standing outside the bedroom door. “LYNN!!” She then shouted her name as she started to knock on the door.

“I’m uuuup!” Lynn yelled back, her head still buried in between the pillows.

“You do realize it’s 11 am, don’t you?” Shannon exclaimed. “We need to be in church for the ceremony by 12!” She added, telling her the plan, while Lynn simply tried to cover her ears with more pillows.

“And Frank will be here soon to pick us up…” Shannon went on. “I’m all dressed up and ready, I don’t understand what’s making you so lazy today, you…”

“I’M UP!!!” Lynn then shouted, opening the door to Shannon’s face, interrupting her. “See?” she then said faking a smile, posing in front of her by pointing to her own face, in a way to make her realize that she’s really up.

“Oh… kay…” Shannon added, quieting down and stepping away for Lynn to make her way out her room and into the bathroom.

“I made you coffee!!” Shannon then shouted out for her, still trying to be nice. “I left it on the coffee table in the living room ok?” Shannon then added heading towards the kitchen.
“Oh hey, you’re here already,” she then said seeing Frank walk in the open front door.

“Yup, where’s Lynn?” He immediately asked.

“She just got out of bed…” Shannon added.

“Is it that bad?” He asked as Shannon sighed replying, “I guess it could be worse…”

When Gerard was condemned to death, Lynn tried all her best to get him out of trouble but there was nothing she could do. Not even turn herself in. He just had everything planned in a way that cannot be changed.

The day his execution was going to happen, everyone was too depressed. They had all been told the story of everything that had been going on by Mikey, and they had planned to move away for a while, from all this environment, from anything that reminded them of Gerard.

Not that they wanted to forget about him, because that would never happen. They just did it mainly to help Lynn get over this trauma, to help her start a new life. She had gotten so depressed to the point where she almost overdosed on sleeping pills one night, if it wasn’t for Frank walking in on her at the right moment.

After that incident, the band had decided they should move away. They didn’t consider themselves friends or best friends not even a band anymore. They had become more like a family now. Especially after everything they had been through.

They all thought that if there was anything Gerard would’ve wanted them to do, it would be to take care of Lynn. So Mikey, Frank, Bob, Ray and Shannon all put up a new plan… it was to help Lynn get over this whole thing. After all, she was the one to go through the shocking events. They wanted to take her as far away as possible from this town, more like this whole state… better yet, out of the US itself.

They decided to move to Italy. It was some place new, a place that didn’t hold memories and flashbacks for Lynn to suffer from, and it was where Tracey, Mikey’s girlfriend lived her childhood.

Tracey was half Italian and was raised there before she moved to the US to become a nurse. She was the one who suggested they move to Italy, and Mikey was the first to like the idea. Tracey was familiar with everything there so she was their guide for the first couple of months. She helped each one of them get a place to settle in. They chose to stay at a small town there, away from the city and its rush. Lynn wanted a place for her own, but they didn’t let her, they were still concerned about her that time, so they made Shannon move in with her. It was a nice house, in a very quiet and orderly neighborhood. The house used to belong to an old couple who had decided to retire someplace else. Lynn and Shannon made a couple of adjustments to it. It was made up of a living room. Not much was in there, just a normal TV, a coffee table, sofas and libraries. Lynn decided to add some photo frames to it whereas Shannon added a desk with a computer. They weren’t that comfortable with their budget since the band couldn’t go on working the way they used to, at least not with Gerard being gone.

The kitchen was open to the living room, it wasn’t that big, just had the necessary equipments in it, and the coffee maker that both Shannon and Lynn agreed to add to it. The corridor going from the living room, lead to 2 bedrooms facing each other, and a normal size bathroom. At the end of the hall was a room that Lynn turned into her own painting room. She realized she had a skill for that, and started using it whenever she was feeling in the mood. It mostly happened whenever she gets flashbacks, she would paint them down. It would eventually all turn out to be very artistic.

Frank and Bob bought an apartment in a building 10 minutes away from Lynn and Shannon’s. Their place was more modern though, and it was mostly filled with their equipment. They had even set up a special room with the sound isolators and everything, so that whenever they wanted to practice, they would all gather there. It was like their own version of a studio.

As for Ray, he wanted his own place. It was right below Frank and Bob’s. Even though he had his own place, he would always spend his time either at Frank’s or worrying about Mikey and what he and Tracey might be doing.

They all moved there 2 years ago, and ever since then, Mikey and Tracey bought a beautiful 2-story house and made it their home. The group couldn’t go on playing as My Chemical Romance. The fans had no idea what was going on, so the band told them that they were all going on vacation, for time off and that someday, they might be back with more music for them. Rumors about the band splitting up were all over the place. But that didn’t matter much anymore. There was nothing they could do, not that they wanted to do anything without Gerard.

They still needed a way of living though, and while Frank, Bob and Ray started playing music at a small pub down the street, Mikey’s job was to make most of the music they were playing, and design t-shirts to be sold. But none of that was made under the name of what was once known a band called MCR. It was like they were working independently. They believed that MCR would only exist if Gerard was there too. The good news is that they were all happy there. Even though they had to change all their lifestyle, but it somehow seemed like they needed it, and they were happy.

The only one with the problems was Lynn. Not a day passed by and she didn’t feel guilty, bad or just miserable about what had to happen. She always blamed herself, even though what Gerard did was his own choice. Italy had a positive effect on her though. She kept herself busy. She would paint or attempt to sell a painting during the day, and at night, she worked as a waitress with Shannon at the same pub where the guys played their music every night. They all stuck together, that was the important thing, they were always there for each other.

What seemed to be a simple, happy life for some, Lynn still struggled through her day, when it came to the day Gerard left them.
Two years later, it was only natural for everyone to grasp the idea, and move on with their lives but that didn’t apply to Lynn. Whenever that day approaches, she would turn into a whole new person. She becomes moody and depressed, wanting to lock herself in her room for the whole week, maybe sleeping it through.

This was what happened today. Shannon was trying to wake Lynn up and Frank went there to help… Gerard left them 2 years ago like today. Which was why Lynn was giving everyone a hard time to come out of her room. But also, today was Mikey and Tracey’s day. They were getting married. They picked out this date so that they’d turn this day into a happy one, keeping in mind that Gerard is happy somewhere up there. Everyone needed to get ready and be in church at 12 pm. Everyone was in on the plan and they were all ready. Except for Lynn…