The Only Hope for Me Is You

I woke up from hearing Frank’s bedroom door open and close, followed by Mikey’s voice come from across the room.

“Hey, Frank, I really need to talk to you about—“

“Shh…Mikey, she’s finally asleep…”

“Oh…sorry…I can come back later, if—“

“Nah, It’s fine Mikey, just be quiet…”

I heard a shuffling of boots across the wood floor, and not too long after, something was dragged and knocked off of the desk, followed by a loud thud and crash of someone falling backwards in a chair.

“Mikey, damn it!” I felt Frank get up off the bed, probably to go pick up whatever had fallen off the desk.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry!” I heard Mikey say, completely honest. After a minute or two of just lying motionless in bed, pretending to be asleep, I finally opened my eyes and sat up, only to see Frank cross legged on the floor, trying to put back together the broken statuette that Mikey had knocked over in his haste to sit down. By the looks of it, he had sat down to quickly in Frank’s desk chair, knocked the statuette over with his arm, and fell backwards in the chair onto his back.

“Mikey…this was my favorite one, too…” Frank sighed. I giggled at Mikey, who was still lying on his back, shocked at what had just happened. His glasses had fallen halfway off his face, papers scattered all around him, his hands resting on his chest, rising and falling with his deep breaths.

“God forbid you ever live on your own…” Frank continued, shaking his head as he stood up, moving his hair out of his face. He turned around and noticed I was awake, and immediately stood up, put the two halves of the figurine on the desk and sat down next to me, rubbing my back lightly.

“Hey, Frank,” I said, yawning. He just smiled at me, lightly kissing me on the lips.

“Hey, Cy,” he said. “How’re you doing?” He checked the hole in my chest, gingerly running his finger over the laser hole, and I winced slightly. “Oh shit I’m sorry…”

“No, Frank, babe, I’m fine…” I said thickly, pointing at Mikey. “I think he’s a lot worse off than me…” Shaking my head, wrapped the covers around me like a toga, since I was missing a shirt, and got out of bed, walked over to Mikey, and held out my hand to bring him back onto his feet. Chuckling softly, he dusted himself off, fixed his glasses, and smiled with the corner of his mouth.

“Sorry for waking you…” he said quietly, picking up the papers from the floor hastily.

“Not a problem,” I replied, patting his back. “I was already awake anyways…I heard everything.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were awake?” I heard Frank say from behind me, and I turned around, smiling at him.

“Because I love you, Frankie,” I said, then walked over and sat on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, and he put his hands on my waist. “You care about me so much…It’s new to me.” I kissed him on the cheek.

“Aw, Cy,” Frank replied. “It’s because I love you too,” he returned the favor, then looked over to Mikey, who was standing awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand, looking anxious.

“What’s up, Mikes?” I asked. “You seem tense.”

“Yeah, I guess I am,” he said slowly, looking towards the door.

“What’s up?” Frank asked, intrigued.

“Oh, It’s nothing really…just waiting for Gerard to get back…he went out to get me something important…” He looked down at the papers in his hands, shuffling through them quickly before looking back up at us. “Really, guys, it’s nothing…” he added, seeing the skeptical looks on both mine and Frank’s faces. We knew he was hiding something.

“Come on….Mikey…” Frank said, smirking.

“Better now than later, dude,” I agreed. “I’m going to bug you all day until you let it out. And I can get really annoying.”

“Okay…but promise you won’t tell Lauren, okay?” he said, picking up the chair and sitting in it, slowly this time. Immediately, I took the papers from him.

“Why would we not tell Lau—NO!” I said, sifting through them, and seeing a lot of stuff having to do with weddings and rings. “Mikey! OH MY GOD!” I squealed, jumping off of Frank’s lap, throwing him the papers, and running over to Mikey, hugging him tight around the neck.

“What…?” Frank said, confused, looking at the papers.

“You dummy, Mikey’s gonna propose to Lauren!” I cried, arms still around Mikey’s neck, ignoring the fact I was practically choking him. “I’m so excited and happy for you two!”

“Mikey, this is awesome and all, but are you sure you want to go through with this?” Frank asked, looking through the papers. I let Mikey go so he could talk, and sat back down in Frank’s lap, smiling and giggling.

“Yes, Frank, I’m sure,” He replied. “I talked to my brother about it, and he said if I really feel that way about her…go with it. Follow my heart, and whatever happens will happen.”

“Well I am saying the same thing Gerard’s saying,” Frank said, nodding. “I was going to say the exact same words actually…huh.”

“God, Gerard is so good with this kind of stuff,” I said, hugging Frank tight. “But Mikey…OH MY GOD!”

“I know, right?” Mikey said, smiling slightly. “It’s crazy, I know, but…I love her. So much, I want to be with her forever…”

“I know how you feel,” I said, kissing Frank on the forehead before standing up again. “No wonder you’re so anxious…this is like top-secret. Does Ray know?”

“Yeah…I told him right after I talked to Gerard. He’s on board too.”

“Gah, who wouldn’t be on board?” I said happily. “You two are so cute together!” I jumped up and down a little bit, and not too long after started coughing uncontrollably, feeling pain sear into my heart like a knife to my chest. After bending over, hands on my knees, almost coughing out a lung, I felt Frank wrap his arms around my waist and pull me backwards onto the bed again, rubbing my back. I looked up at him, still coughing, tears in my eyes, to see his face full of pain and terror, and I saw that Mikey’s mirrored his face as well. After what seemed like a lifetime, I finally stopped coughing, and took a deep breath, feeling the air rush back into my lungs once again. I wiped my hand on my mouth, and saw blood.

“Shit, Cy, are you okay?” Mikey said, leaning forward, patting my shoulder. I nodded.

“Damn it…” I groaned, looking up at Frank again. He frowned, wiping the rest of the blood from my mouth off with his finger.

“Cy, you can’t get too excited…” he said, his voice wavering, smiling slightly, putting my hair behind my ear. “Not until your heart heals back up, okay?”

“But the moment calls for excitement…” I pouted.

“I know, but still…I don’t want anything else to happen to you,” he said, and I nodded again, my head perking up as I heard the door open again, and this time Gerard came walking into the room, quietly, and shut the door behind him.

“Did he tell you?” Gerard asked, taking a tiny box out of his pocket and handing it to Mikey. Frank and I nodded.

“It’s so exciting!” I said. “I already was literally jumping for joy, but almost died again…” Gerard looked shocked after I said this, his face falling from glee to horror in half a second. “Long story…I’m fine, Gee…really.” I added, and he nodded, the smile returned to his face.

“Well, Mikes,” he said, patting his brother on the shoulder. “Is that good enough?”

“Wow…” Mikey said, staring into the small box, then looked up at his brother, smiling. “It’s better than anything I ever expected.”

“Aw, only for my little brother,” Gerard said, patting him on the back.

“So when are you going to propose?” Frank asked. I nodded in agreement.

“I was going to actually do it later today, maybe tonight…I have a picnic all set up for us over by the canyon and everything.”

“AW!! You are so adorable!” I cried. Frank leaned over to pat him on the shoulder, smiling.

“Good luck, buddy,” He said. “She’s going to love it. No doubt in my mind, bro.” Mikey nodded, standing up, and took a giant breath. Gerard patted him on the cheek before bringing him into a tight embrace.

“Go get her, tiger,” He said, and Mikey nodded, leaving the embrace. He opened the door, stopping to turn around to look at us again.

“What are you waiting for?” I yelled, waving my arms at him. “GO!” Everyone laughed, and we watched Mikey nervously walk out of the room, fidgeting with the ring box before putting it in his pocket. I looked at Frank, smiling.

“Where’s my ring?” I joked. He just stared back at me, mouth open.

“Um, uh…er…”

“Frankie, I’m KIDDING!” I said, patting his chest. “I’m not ready for that…not yet, anyways…”

“Oh thank god,” he said. “Because if you were expecting one, I would have had a heart attack…” I laughed, and looked over at Gerard, who was laughing nervously. I could tell he was faking his smile, because it didn’t show in his eyes; he was fumbling with something in his pocket, and I think I knew what it was.

“Not for a while, babe,” I said, nuzzling my nose on his before standing up again, and walked over to Gerard, and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes.

“You are by far the best brother anyone could ever have,” I said. He rubbed his hand on my head. “You’re so caring, and sweet, and so protective of everyone…that’s what I love about you, Gerard.”

“To hear you say that…it means a lot, Cy,” he said, and brought me closer to him with his arm. So close, I could feel his heartbeat on my cheek. I smiled, letting him go, and walked over to Frank, and dragged him to his feet, supporting his weight from his broken foot. I heard Gerard laugh after I got Frank on his feet.

“What now?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Ha, it’s nothing…” He said, rubbing the back of his head. “it’s just…Frank’s got a broken foot, and you’re shot in the fucking heart…it’s funny to see two injured people care so much for each other…” He paused, his smile fading, and looked at the floor, then back up at us. “You two were meant for each other…” Still looking slightly sad, he nodded, faking another smile, and left the room. I looked at Frank, confused.

“Is he okay?” I asked. Frank shrugged.

“I’ve talked to him about us,” he said slowly. “He told me you’re the one that got away…” He kissed the top of my head, but I didn’t respond. I didn’t know how to.

It hit me like a sack of bricks to the chest. Gerard still had feelings for me, I knew that. But to call me ‘the one that got away…’

It made me wonder if I had made the wrong choice after all. And that hurt more than anything.

I look at Mikey and Lauren, star-crossed lovers who fell in love at first sight, who were getting MARRIED. And I’m torn between my two best friends.

Why did they both have to be so perfect?