Coffee and Cigarettes

I was pretty happy these days, in all honesty. Other than the fact that my sister was slowly dying from the inside, life was fairly good. Frank and I had been dating for two months and it was now the summertime. Gerard had gone to a few Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after I'd practically begged him to do so. Mikey kept an eye on him in case of any repercussions.

The only thing that was really worrying me lately was the fact that Libby seemed really depressed lately. Her parents had been divorced for a little while now, and Jane had been dating a man that Libby didn't know. She'd never even seen his face before. She told me that her mom would leave the house around midday and wouldn't come back until really late at night.

The thought of Jane and someone other than Libby's father gave me the chills. I decided to stay over at Libby's house one night in order to calm her down a bit--she had called me earlier and burst into hysterics.

"Okay girls," Jane said as the two of us settled by the couches around ten o'clock. "I have a late date tonight. Don't wait up for me."

Libby and I looked at each other and sighed heavily. "Okay," she said solemnly, staring down at her socks. "Bye, Mom. Have fun."

"Bye, sweetheart," she called. "Goodnight, Morgan!"

"Goodnight, Jane," I replied hastily, breaking into the popcorn and chips. As soon as she went out the door, Libby practically burst into tears again.

"I mean," she sniffled. "If I knew who it was, then at least I'd have some sense of security. But I have no idea who this guy is! What if he's some sort of lunatic or a crackpot or something? Morgan, what am I supposed to do?"

I nibbled on a ketchup chip. "Libby," I said softly. "You've just got to trust your mom's judgement."

"I can't," she said sharply. "Not when she divorced my dad for some sleazebag who's too afraid to show his face to me. I hate her for this."

I sighed loudly. "I see where you're coming from, Libby, but you've got to keep your mom's happiness in mind, too. Call up Mikey, that'll make you feel better."

"Yeah," she agreed, reaching over and grabbing the cordless phone and dialling Mikey's number and putting him on speaker.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hey," Libby said. I could just imagine Mikey smiling super-wide. That's just how the two of them were. All they ever did was smile. "Morgan's here. You're on speaker."

"Hey, Morg!" Mikey said cheerfully. "Gerard's here too. You guys are on speaker."

"Hey, Gee," I called. "How are the Alc-Anon meetings?"

"Swell," he said sarcastically. "But I haven't had a drop of the poison since. Aren't you proud of me?"

I chuckled. "Ever so. I'm so glad that you got help."

"Me too."

There was a bit of a silence. "Hey Mikey," Libby suddenly said. "Can we come over?"

I heard Mikey whispering to Gerard. "I don't see why not," he said. "My parents are in Buffalo, so I guess it'd be okay."

"Great," Libby said. "We'll be there in ten."

I didn't have much time to speak as Libby tossed me my shoes (thankfully we hadn't changed into our pajamas yet) and we booked it over to the Way's. The two of us were panting for air as soon as Mikey opened the door to greet us. Libby practically collapsed in his arms and he carried her inside, myself following suit.

"So what brings you here?" Gerard asked, flopped down on the couch.

"Not much," I shrugged. "I guess Libby missed Mikey too much."

"And my mother is a lying bitch!" she called from Mikey's lap.

"Apparently that too," I smirked. "What do you guys feel like doing?"

Gerard and Mikey both shrugged. "What do we always do when it's dark and gloomy outside?" Gerard asked in a mock-menacing voice. Upon seeing out confused faces, he sighed dramatically and said, "We watch horror movies, silly."

"Oh," I said, rolling my eyes. "How could I have forgotten?"

Gerard had popped in The Fly, one of my favourite old 80's horror/sci-fi flicks. It had just gotten to the part where the fly dude crashes through the window at the abortion clinic and steals whatsername and brings her back to his aparment when the doorbell rang and I jumped three feet into the air.

"Who could that be?" Mikey pondered aloud, stepping to the door and opening it. "Oh, hi there, Frank."

I glanced over to see my boyfriend smiling cheekily at me with his hands in his pockets. "Hi," I said in a confused tone.

"Boredom," was his reply. Apparently, this was the norm for him and the Ways. I nodded and he came over and sat down next to me, draping his arm over my shoulder and pecking my cheek. "What're you and Lib doing here?" he asked.

"I'm staying at her house for the night, and we got bored and decided to come here."

"Promising," he said with a smirk. I leaned my head on his shoulder as we continued to watch the movie.

Once the ending credits began to roll, Libby and I got up and stretched. "We have to be heading home," she said. "My mom's gonna be back soon."

"I'll walk you," Frank suggested, "I have to be back home too, anyway."

We nodded and all three of us waved goodbye to Mikey and the sleeping Gerard and proceeded down the street.

We were talking about the movie and how the effects were pretty dramatic and top-notch for that time period when I noticed a black car starting to pull up in Libby's driveway. "Hey," I said. "That looks familiar..."

I pulled Libby and Frank aside behind a nearby bush and we sat and waited.

Jane came out of the car, along with another man who walked her to the door. We couldn't see exactly who it was since it was so dark. Jane kissed him on the lips and thanked him for a wonderful evening and she retreated inside the house. As he turned around, I gasped and was prepared to wipe the smirk off his self-satisfied little face.

"What's wrong?" Frank whispered to me as the man got into his car and drove away.

"That was Jon Bishops," I growled. "He's the one who infected my sister."