The Ghost of You

Michaela grabbed her hair, twisting it and removing the excess water with her hands. She was dressed now, standing in the bathroom and just staring at the long mirror in front of her. While Frank wasn’t visible at the moment, she could see his ghostly reflection in the mirror.

“Um… Frank?” she whispered.

“Mmm?” he asked, his eyebrow rising curiously.

“How are you going to hide your reflection?” Michaela said quietly. “I mean, I can see you right now…”

Frank looked up into the mirror, obviously puzzled. A look of realization struck him, and he giggled airily.

“I can hide that, dumbass,” he stated, as if it were so obvious, his reflection fizzling away into nothing. “See? I can control myself. It has been eight years, you know.”

He reappeared, rolling his eyes, and then disappeared again, grabbing Michaela’s hand limply.

“Come on,” his voice sounded in her ears. “Let’s go downstairs. I want to see the Ways.”

Michaela could hear the pain in her brother’s voice. He really wanted to see the Ways… and he wanted them to see him, too. He wanted them to know he was okay. But they never would truly know, to Michaela’s knowledge. Only she would know.

“Hey, sweetie!” Donna Way called as she approached the crowded kitchen. Michaela nodded her head. “You didn’t even say hello before!”

God, that screech of a voice… You could tell she was from New Jersey. “Hi, Donna.”

She smiled, and Mr. Iero, otherwise known as Frank Sr., walked into the room. The wind picked up outside, banging on the windows, Frank tensing up behind Michaela to let her know everything was fine.

“Hi, honey. Are you settled in a room yet?” her father asked, and she nodded. He nodded back. “Damn, it’s really windy out all of a sudden.”

“I miss you,” Frank’s voice echoed through Michaela’s ears.

How could he miss her? He was currently in contact with her. That’s when realization struck her; he had said that to their father. Frank’s voice had echoed through the entire kitchen, possibly the entire house.

“What in the world…” Mr. Iero trailed off. Just then, Donald entered the room, Michaela and him sharing a mutual ‘hello’ nod. The wind outside died down a bit, the rustling of leaves becoming almost non-existent.

But it picked up much faster when Gerard and his brother Mikey Way stepped into the room moments later.

“Holy shit, it’s windy out!” Gerard screamed, locking the door as an attempt to keep the wind outside. “Anyways, hi Michaela.” He smiled, waving. This time, Michaela returned the wave, though it was hard when Frank’s grip was so tight on her wrist. She tapped him lightly on the hand.

“Sorry,” he hissed in her ear. She took his other hand in hers, telling him it was okay and that she understood.

“Hey Michaela,” Mikey greeted her casually. “What’s up?”

“Hey Mikes. Nothing much. Thinking about exploring the woods a bit,” she replied honestly, greeting him with her childhood nickname for him.

“I’d be careful out there, Mick,” Mikey replied, also with his childhood nickname for her. “I heard those woods were haunted.”

Frank trembled with laughter behind her, assuring her she would be fine.

“I haunt those woods. Oh my God,” Frank giggled. “Mikey is so naïve for someone who’s supposedly twenty-four years old…”

Michaela squeezed his hand back tightly, silently telling him to shut up. He listened, although he was still stifling laughter.

“I’ll be fine, Mikey,” Michaela said defiantly. “You can join me if you’d like.”

Mikey sighed and decided he didn’t want to accompany Michaela on any adventures. Gerard, however, was eager to explore with Michaela.

When they got to the woods, Gerard started talking about ancient myths and folklore, and with each word he spoke, Frank tensed up even more. Michaela seriously wanted to smack some sense into him, but she couldn’t, mainly because she didn’t want to look like a complete lunatic around Gerard. Even though he was nothing more than a family friend to her, she still needed to keep her dignity.

“So, how’s life home in Belleville?” Gerard said, obviously trying to make small talk.

“It’s not like you don’t live there too, dumbass,” Michaela snorted. “Why don’t you tell me? How’s life in Belleville?”

Gerard looked a bit shocked, not remembering Michaela to have such a mouth. As a matter of fact, Michaela herself didn’t remember having a mouth as big as this. But she felt confident, and she was going to take advantage.

“Well, life at home…” Gerard began, trailing off. “Life at home isn’t going too well, to be honest. I mean, I go to art school in New York, meaning I’m not home for a lot of what I’m about to mention, but my parents aren’t as happy as they seem when they’re here. Let’s just say that they fight… A lot. Mikey has heard bottles smashing against their bedroom walls; hell, I’ve heard slaps across faces and bodies slamming against the walls of our house. My hearing has to be elevated now because of everything going on at home.”

He was crying. Gerard Arthur Way was crying in the woods with Michaela, her older brother trembling with overwhelming emotion and longing behind her.

“And what makes it worse,” Gerard sniffed, “is that I turned to the one thing that made my best friend feel better.”

“What’s that?” Michaela asked, unsure if she knew. Frank squeezed her hand tight, as if scolding her. She was sure she knew now.

Gerard pulled a rusty razorblade out of his pocket. “It was his, you know. My best friend’s. I don’t know if you remember him; he died when you were young. But he was your brother, Michaela. My best friend Frank was your brother…” he trailed off again, obviously reliving memories that he would never let go of, while the back of Michaela’s shirt grew wet with Frank’s tears and the ground around her became moist with his blood. “…and I was in love with him. And I still am. And I’ve come to accept the fact that I always be.”

Gerard was sobbing now, and so was Frank. It began raining, and Michaela knew Frank was really hurting. It scared her that he was hurting. She didn’t know exactly what he was capable of in his ghostly form.

“It’s okay, Gee,” Michaela said in a voice that wasn’t entirely hers. She felt an uncomfortable shifting in her stomach and she knew that Frank was forcing his way inside of her. He needed to comfort his best friend. “I love you, too.”

She smiled once more before a blinding light escaped her stomach. On the inside, Michaela felt like she was being torn apart. She felt like she was dying. That was all she could explain the transformation as. Death. She had experienced death at the age of thirteen years old. Just then, all of her thoughts stopped and her feelings and actions were tucked away by a foreign spirit. She became her older brother, Frank Anthony Iero, Jr., on the inside and out.

Gerard’s expression was priceless. He was bewildered, and it was written all over his face. Tears began to fall from his eyes, his emotions for his best friend too powerful for him to doubt that it was actually Frank before him.

“Frank?” Gerard asked cautiously, his voice trembling.

Frank smiled. “Oh, Gee. I missed you so fucking much.”

They began sobbing into each other’s arms, never wanting to let go. Their bond would never be broken, no matter if one was alive and the other was dead. They would find a way to be together forever, and they both knew it.

“I missed you, too, Frankie,” Gerard sighed, wiping his tears from his eyes furiously. “But that’s an understatement.” He smiled.

Just then, Frank grabbed Gerard by the chin, standing on his tip-toes and staring into his eyes. “You’re even more beautiful than I’d remembered.” He whispered in awe, a tear falling down his face. He kissed Gerard with more passion than ever, wanting to stay in the moment for as long as he could. He knew he’d probably never be able to do this again, so Frank was going to kiss Gerard for as long as possible.

Gerard broke the kiss after what was about ten minutes. He breathed deeply, curious to know what Frank was doing here.

“What?” Gerard asked bluntly.

“Listen,” Frank began, seriously, “I know you have your questions. So I’m just going to explain what’s going on right here, right now.”

They both took a deep breath before Frank continued.

“After I died that night eight years ago, I became a ghost. A spirit. I’m forever bound to this cabin and this forest. I can’t go any further than here in location. I figured I’d have left to go to the afterlife or whatever sooner, but I haven’t. So, when I saw my mom pat Michaela on the back of the head a little too hard when they arrived here today, I decided that I would protect her from that evil bitch that ruined my life. When you started crying, I was right behind Michaela, holding her hand. I couldn’t stand to do nothing about it so… I possessed her. And that might be freaky to you but—“ Frank was cut off by Gerard’s lips pressing against his.

“It’s all fine with me,” Gerard smiled. “I have such a cute ghost best friend, you know that?”

Frank blushed. “And I have such a gorgeous human boy toy.” He winked, and Gerard chuckled, kissing him on the cheek.

They stayed in the woods, just cuddling for quite some time before Frank asked him the question he had been begging to ask him for eight long years.

“Do you still want to be with me?” he gulped. “Even if I can’t be with you all the time? Because I know for sure that I would drop everything to be with you.”

Gerard frowned, worry lines creasing his forehead. “Of course I do! Frank, I’ve been waiting just as long as you’ve been waiting. I needed to see you. And now that I finally have, I can’t think of life without you again.”

Frank sighed, both out of relief and worry. “Well, I’m going to have to leave you again eventually, you know…”

“I know,” Gerard sighed, “but I want to stall that for as long as possible. Fuck it; I’ll live here with you. I’ll drop art school, I’ll drop everything!”

Frank hit Gerard across the top of the head. “Are you fucking nuts? You have a really promising future! I heard your mom telling my mom about your deal with Cartoon Network! You aren’t dropping everything because of me, no matter how badly I want to be with you and vice-versa.”

Gerard hesitated. “Okay,” he said, shakily, “But I love you. And I’ll never forget you… I promise.”

Frank smiled weakly. Gerard smiled back. “I love you too. And it’s impossible for me to forget you.”

They kissed one more time before they heard Mikey calling out from the house.

“Shit,” Frank muttered. “I have to go. Well, physically… But I’ll be trailing behind Michaela all the time. I need to see you as much as possible, and that sounds like the easiest way.”

Gerard smiled, pulling his friend into one last hug. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Gee,” Frank said, smiling back and transforming back into Michaela. And just in time; Mikey had just approached.

“What in the hell were you two doing out here?” he shouted. “I swear to God, I thought the ghosts got you.”

Michaela and Gerard shared a knowing looking and just laughed.