Never Coming Home

"Way, you've got mail," an officer said, handing Gerard a small pile of letters. The officer glared at Mikey before stalking away.

"Is that a letter from Marie?" Mikey asked, trying to look over Gerard's shoulder.

"Yup."

"How come I didn't get one?"

"Maybe she stopped loving you," Frank snickered. They were enjoying the sun light on one of their very few breaks.

Both Gerard and Mikey glared over at Frank. Gerard's glare was telling him to shut up, Mikey's was telling him that he was an ass.

"Sorry," Frank said, before taking a bite out of an apple that he snagged from the kitchen.

Gerard searched through his pile of letters, before handing Mikey one. "It's from Marie. They just shoved it in with my letters."

Mikey grinned, before tearing it open. One thing that Mikey looked forward to once a week was Marie's letter. Sadly, the mail system there at the boot camp sucked, so it took three days to send out and three days to receive, even though the boot camp was relatively close to Newark.

"I hate that she writes us such long letters, but we can never send her long letters back," Frank stated, randomly, staring at the piece of paper in front of him.

"I know, but I think she understands, at least," Gerard replied,

"'P.S.- Your mother says hi. Your mother and my mother are having a lovely conversation about the wedding they want us to have that will never happen again, Frank. Will they ever give up?'" Frank and Gerard cracked up laughing.

Alice and Linda had been planning Frank and Marie's wedding since they had met at the park when the two of them were four. Frank pushed Marie down and Marie punched him, resulting in both of them going into a time out, only to become good friends. The two mothers claimed it was 'love at first sight'. Both Frank and Marie scoffed every time they said that.

Frank looked back at Mikey, who was still reading his letter from Marie. "What, did she write you a book, Mikey?"

Mikey looked up and shook his head, before looking back down at the paper. Frank and Gerard looked at each other briefly, before looking at Mikey again.

"Well, what did she say?" Gerard asked, curiosity taking over.

"It must've been pretty good. He's been quiet for a good ten minutes now."

"Nothing, she's just telling me what's going on back at home. You know, normal stuff." Mikey didn't make eye contact with either of them, and they both knew that he only did that when he was lying.

"Mikey, you're a terrible liar," Frank said, before dropping it. Mikey shrugged, before folding up the letter and tucking it in his pocket.



"Alright, start running, you little pansies!" one of the officers yelled, signaling for all of the men to start their 'before-dinner-four-mile' run. Mikey hated it. He made by, though, every night. While he was running, he thought of what he'd tell Marie in his next letter. Though, tonight, he couldn't think of what to tell her.

Thunder cracked in the distance, and he silently wished that it was as nice as it was earlier that day. Soon enough, the rain started pouring, and they were only at the half mile mark. He hoped that the letter in his right pocket wouldn't get wet, or worse, fall out of his pocket.

By the three and a half mile mark, he felt like his legs were on fire and his lungs were about to explode. At this point, he wished they would, that way he wouldn't have to run anymore. He was surprised he wasn't the last one in line. Generally, he was. He wasn't exactly athletic, but he managed, every day.

By the time he was done running, he was in front of the dinner hall. He was so happy that the letter barely got wet and didn't fall out of his pocket. He was also very happy that he didn't trip in the mud, which was something he tended to do.

He walked into the dinner hall slowly, trying not to fall. His legs ached so much, he thought that they would give out beneath him at any moment. He found Gerard and moved over to him.

"Hey, Gee," Mikey mumbled, sitting down across from him.

Gerard raised an eyebrow. "Not eating? Again?"

Mikey shook his head. "There's no way I could stomach anything right now. I feel like puking after all of the running I just did."

Gerard nodded, in an understanding way. They sat there in silence, except for Mikey's occasional gasp of breath. Frank walked over after a while, a tray full of food.

"I am so damned hungry!" he exclaimed, sitting next to Mikey. "No food, again? You're going to die out there in the morning, Mikey."

"Then shut up and give me some of your food," Mikey said, staring at his friend. Frank grumbled, before pushing his tray closer to his friend. Mikey grinned. "Thanks, buddy."

"Don't mention it," Frank mumbled. Gerard chuckled at his friend and younger brother. The three of them were all so close, it was insane. Frank was definitely like a brother to the Ways.

"Do either of you have a piece of paper?" Mikey asked, earning funny looks from both Frank and Gerard.

"Yes, Mikey, we carry around paper with us to the dinner hall, just for fun," Frank stated, in a sarcastic tone. "No, we don't. Why?"

Mikey shrugged. "Thought I'd get a start on Marie's letter."

Frank sighed. "Mikey, just admit you love her. Please. You are so head over heels for that girl."

Mikey's face turned red and he looked down at the tray. He didn't know how to respond to that, so he simply said nothing. Frank grinned over at Gerard.

"Can I tell him?" Frank asked, excitedly. It took a few moments for Gerard to realize what he was talking about.

"No," he replied, after it clicked in his mind.

"What? Why not? I'm sure he'd like to know!" Frank exclaimed, in a whiny tone.

"Don't tell him—"

"Too late! Marie loves you, too, Way!" said Frank, in a rushed tone.

Gerard grunted, and mumbled something under his breath, in a displeasured tone. Something along the lines of, "I'm going to kill you, Iero."

"Don't kill him, I already knew."

Both Gerard and Frank looked over at Mikey. The confusion written all over their faces was obvious.

"She told me in her letter today." He moved his hand from the table to his pocket, pulling out the letter and handing it to Gerard.



Dear Mikey,

Don't worry, I understand you can't write a lot. You don't need to apologize for it. I hope everything's okay at boot camp. We all miss you, dearly.

I didn't know what to write before Lily came out and helped me. She told me to write about how I've been. Honestly, I've been a mess. It's just hard without you and the others here. I don't know how I'll be able to handle it when you leave the country. You haven't even left the state and I'm worried sick about you. I know you would say something along the lines of, "Don't worry about me, Marie. I'll be able to take care of myself out there." And, I know you can. But, even though I know it in my heart, I'm still scared. I'm so afraid of losing you.

Oh, gee. I sound like such a worry wart. I'm sorry.

Your mother was here earlier, along with Frank's mother. They were talking. (Of course, they had to bring up the wedding that I refuse to let happen. They just never stop with that. I'm sure Frank has already mentioned it to you, though.) I overheard them talking from the kitchen. Apparently, Bryan Rose died in France a few weeks ago. Do you remember him? He graduated with Lily and Gerard. I don't remember him very well. I only met him a few times in town. That's not the point. A boy from our town died, and that scares me. What if that were you or Gerard? Or Frank? Or Ray? I heard he enlisted, too. He's going to be a medic.

I am so paranoid, I'm sorry. I'm sure I'm making you terribly nervous. I'm going to change the subject, now.

I should have told you this before you left, but I didn’t know how. And, I was incredibly afraid of how you'd react. And, knowing me, I would panic and say something unrelated to everything, like how I don't like bananas. And, even now, I'm having some issues just writing it.

It may (or may not, depending on if Gerard has told you or not. Knowing him, he hasn't. But, Frank probably did. If he didn't, I'm very surprised.) shock you, but I love you? I know it's terrible to say in a letter, but if I don't tell you now, I probably never will, and...and if anything happened to you overseas, I don't want to live with the regret that I had never told you. I'm sorry for telling you under these circumstances, as well. Have I mentioned that I feel terrible?

Okay, I'm just going to stop now. I have to go to bed now, anyways.

With love,

Marie.



"That was so precious, Mikey," Frank said, wiping a fake tear from his eye. Mikey reeled back and punched him in the shoulder.

"Shut up, man."

"He was kidding, Mikey," Gerard stated, giving Frank a look that was crossed between a disapproving look and a look that said, "You deserved that."

Frank mumbled an apology and Mikey quickly forgave him.

"That's why I wanted a piece of paper. I need to tell her that I love her back. You know?"

Gerard smiled to himself, before saying, "Just wait until we get back to the dorms, okay?"