My Family Doesn't Know

*~*Mikey's POV, because I have to list it now because I change so much*~*

When I woke up the next day, I was still very tired, although I always am when I first wake up. I noticed a paper on the bedside table in between the two beds, listing the breakfast hours. I looked at the clock, figuring breakfast had just started not to long ago. I threw back the sheets, shuffling over to where I had put my clothes last night, putting them back on. I went into the bathroom, running a tired hand through my hair.

"Good enough," I mumbled, looking at my reflection. There were dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep - I got maybe five hours at most. My skin seemed more pale than usual, but I didn't really care. I left the room, taking everything I had brought with me, not expecting to come back until tonight.

I found the breakfast room after countless minutes of searching. It was hidden past the pool and front desk, but I found it, the smell of coffee was extremely strong, which is how I found it in the end.

The room itself was big, but lacked many tables. There were counters with food all around, but hardly any places to sit. I decided just to get a cup of coffee and a doughnut, and left the hotel, stepping out into the morning New York City sun.

There were already many people out and about, and the sun blinded me momentarily. I took a bite out of my doughnut, walking down the street. "Where to go.." I said to myself, taking a long drink of my coffee.

I ended up walking around a bit, leaving my car back at the hotel, which might not have been my best idea, but what's done is done. I found a small shop that had posters plastered around the outside saying "Going out of business, everything must go!" in bright, colorful letters. I figured it'd be the cheapest place to get some new clothes for miles here, so I stepped in.

There weren't many people in the building, but there was still a lot of merchandise to be sold. I made my way to the back where male clothes were, and I shifted through the racks. I tried on a bunch of pants, ending up with about four or five pairs that fit and I actually liked. Two pair were skinny jeans, and the others were regular jeans, meaning not skinnies like I was used to, but I looked good wearing them. Then onto the shirts.

I picked out a small pile of shirts, a mix between plain colored tshirts and button down shirts. As I made my way to the front of the store to purchase everything, I noticed more and more people walking in, attracted by the signs, I guess. It was getting harder to move forward, the store being too crowded. I finally made it, having to shove past a ton of people. I threw the clothes on the counter, and reached for my wallet as the cashier rang up the items.

"That'll be $37.94." I handed her the money, figuring how cheap it was compared to where I usually bought my clothes. She handed me the bag, "Have a nice day, sir."

"Uh, thanks, you too." I said as I pushed my way out of the store, stepping out into the crowded streets of New York City. I was swinging my bag by my side, humming to a christmas song that was playing out of one of the shops.

I had found a street vendor that sold hot dogs, and I bought one, my stomach sounding like a dying animal. The sun was overhead now, and I was just getting farther and farther from the hotel as I went.

I found a music shop, and I decided to step in, taking a break from walking on the streets. Cold air hit me as I opened the door, and I noticed guitars lining the walls. I stepped further in, walking around until I found the bass guitars. There were a bunch, in my opinion, there, but one stuck out more than the rest. It was pure white, and shapped a little differently than all the rest. It was beautiful. I stared at it for a while, finally peeling my eyes away and seeing a blonde guy with a lip piercing standing by me.

"Can I help you?" he asked, pushing blonde fringe out of his eyes.

"Nah, just looking around." I said, noticing his name tag. Bob. He looked familiar. I looked back at the bass and it took a few moments to remember where I had seen him before. I didn't see him next to me again, so I made my way to the front of the store where he was at the cash register, looking extremely bored. "I think I know you, is your last name Bryar, by chance?"

The guy furrowed his brow, "...Yeah...? Who are you?"

I laughed slightly, "I'm Mikey Way, we went to school together! We were friends in high school, remember?"

I saw recognition hit Bob in the face, "Mikey?! Dude, how've you been?"

I let out a breath, running a hand through my hair, giving a shaky breath. "Been tough, Bob. Fighting, kid troubles, just a bunch of shit right now. How've you been?"

"Oh, I've been the same old me. I pretty much own this place, that's about as successful as I've been. I have a cat, only family left, really." Bob shrugged. "You still play bass?"

I nodded, "Once in a while. Haven't been able to lately. You still do drums?"

Bob shook his head, "Not since I jacked up my wrists a few years back.

"Oh that sucks," I said to him, setting my bag down on the floor next to me. We were both silent for a while.

"Hey Mikey," Bob said, breaking the silence. I looked up at him, "wanna go out for lunch or something? My shift ends in a few minutes."

"Sure, I'd love to," I said, "where'd you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't kn-"

"Excuse me," some strange guy said, cutting Bob off, "but do either of you work here?"

Bob looked at me, rolling his eyes, before turning back to the man and nodding, "Yeah, can I help you?"

"I need new drum stuff for my son. Sticks and drum pads," the man said, having to think.

"I'll be right back, Mikey," he said to me, leading the man to a different direction of the store. I picked up my bag from the floor, and leaned against the counter. I heard the sound of Bob's voice coming from the otherside of the store, and my phone went off in my pocket.

I pulled it out, seeing Gerard's name. I looked around, debating on answering or not. I did. "What the hell do you want, Gerard?" I growled, keeping my voice low.

"Don't you have that tone of voice with me!" Gerard said, sounding offended. I rolled my eyes. "Where the hell are you?" he asked.

"None of your business, now stop calling me and go sing or something, bye," I said, hanging up. Bob came back into view, the man right behind him. Bob was carrying some drumming stuff in his hands.

I moved away from the counter, putting my phone on vibrate and back into my pocket.

"That'll be $23.84," Bob said. The man, grumbling about his son the reason he had no money, handed him the money, grabbing his bag and leaving quickly.

"Guess I'm done here," Bob said, coming out from behind the counter once more. "Want to go eat, now? Chuck's out back, so I'm free to go."

I smiled, "Sure, pretty hungry. All I've eaten is a doughnut and a couple of hot dogs."

We left the store, the sun slowly coming down from the top of the sky. We started walking, Bob leading. "I heard you on the phone or something. Not to be nosy, but who were you talking to?"

"My brother," I said, looking forward.

"Oh, what's his name...Jared or something? How's he doing?"

"Gerard, and he's off singing and trying to change the world. In a band, but they aren't too successful yet, in my opinion, although last year he got recognized at McDonald's and the cashier followed us to get his picture or whatever." I shrugged and Bob turned onto a street I hadn't noticed earlier. Their were apartments lining the street. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"My place, I want to get a change of clothes. That okay?"

"Yea, sure." I mumbled, looking around me. So much traffic, walking every where would be quicker than driving.

Bob lead me into a tall building, onto the second floor, of like five floors, and we went into the farthest room back. The inside of the building was...nice, but I wouldn't call it comforting. It was really empty. While Bob unlocked his own door, I noticed a girl coming out of the room next door, smiling.

"Hey Bob, see you have a friend." I noticed a gap between her two front teeth.

Bob looked up, opening his door slightly. "Yeah, this is Mikey, an old high school buddy. Mikey, this is Kate, my neighbor for the past three years, and only close friend."

Kate held out her hand, and I shook it. "Nice to meet you Mikey. A friend of Bob's is a friend of mine. What're you two handsome men doing?"

"Uh, going out to eat," Bob said, disappearing into his apartment, "gonna catch up."

"Sounds fun. I'd love to join you, but I have to go meet my mother, she says she found 'the perfect guy for me' or whatever. She just doesn't understand I'm married to my art," Kate sighed, "have fun, you two. Hope to see you again, Mikey." With that, Kate, the neighbor, left.

I stepped into Bob's apartment, which he had already disappeared into a few moments ago, and closed the door. The apartment wasn't too small, there was a couch, a love seat, and a good sized TV in the living room, and a small table in the kitchen. I wandered down the hall a little, and there was the master suite, which Bob was in, I could tell because the door was shut, and then a bathroom and a smaller room off to the side. Seemed more like a condo than an apartment.

I went back to the living room, setting my bag down. I looked into it, then down at my own clothes. Bob came into the room, in a black hoodie and dark jeans.

"How do I look?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"Very nice, Bob. Hey, do you mind if I change? Got my own clothes, and these I wore yesterday," I made a disgusted face.

Bob nodded, "Yeah, sure. I gotta feed Ally real quick."

I gave a questioning look, and a grey and black spotted cat walked into the room, against the wall. The cat looked at at me, it's green eyes shining, but it didn't move towards me. I picked up my back and walked down the hall, stepping into the bathroom to change. I picked out a pair of skinny jeans and one of my button down shirts. As I put my old clothes into the bag, I realized how glad I was to have my boots instead of sneakers.

I looked at my hair in the mirror, and saw a brush on the counter. I grabbed it and ran it through my hair, hoping Bob wouldn't mind. "There," I said, flashing a small smile in the mirror. My hair was finally proplery combed, which made me feel better. I stepped out of the bathroom, and saw Bob standing by the front door.

"Hey, you can leave your bag here if you want. We can come get it after lunch or something. So you don't have to carry it around..." Bob suggested, his cat Ally coming out of the kitchen with tiny pieces of food stuck around her mouth.

"Oh, uh sure. We'll come back, right? These are the only clothes I have right now," I laughed, "uh, where can I put it?"

"Just put it on my bed and shut the door, Ally won't get them then." Bob opened his door, leaving the apartment. Leaving me with Ally.

I put the bag on Bob's bed, and Ally followed me, and I had to spend a few moments scaring her out of the room before I could shut the door. I started to grumble to myself as I left Bob's apartment, not finding Bob by the door, but standing by the stairs. I turned to see Ally sitting on the couch, her eyes freaking me out.

I shut the door, looking at Bob.

"Your cat scares me," I said as we walked down the flight of stairs to the front door.

"She isn't so bad. She just doesn't like strangers much, but if you come over again, she probably won't try to kill you." Bob smiled, and I couldn't help but smiling a little.

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A french fry hit me in the face, and I looked up from my burger and saw Bob looking away suspicially.

"We haven't seen each other in over ten years and you're throwing fries at me?!" I asked, throwing a fry back at him.

"Hey, I didn't do it!" Bob protested, eating the french fry after dipping it in ketchup.

We were at an outdoor restaurant somewhere. The sun was setting over the city, street lights slowly turning on all over, skyscrapes lighting up with Christmas lights. Bob and I were sitting at a glass outdoor table in cushioned chairs, eating burgers and fries, people surrounding us, but paying us no attention.

I rolled my eyes, "Sure you didn't, Bob."

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"So, where's your hotel?" Bob asked as we ascended the stairs to his apartment.

I scratched my head, trying to remember. "No idea, to be honest. It's a huge building, but it's not all too fancy...It has automatic doors!" I said, following in Bob's steps. The moon was coming out, and I was planning on going back to my hotel. We had ended up going around this part of town, staying close to Bob's apartment. We went back to his music shop at one point, and smoked a few cigarettes, had a glass of beer, and it was wonderful.

Now it was getting close to ten and I needed to sleep, my eyes heavy considering I woke up at like seven in the morning.

"That really narrows it down, Mikey," Bob said with sarcasm.

"Not my fault I don't have a photographic memory.." I mumbled. The door next to Bob's opened again, and Kate stepped out. She was in a bright green tank top and black sweat pants, her hair pulled back in a pony tail to reveal more of her freckled face.

"Hey Bob. It's, Mikey, right?" I noticed Kate's green eyes look at Bob for a few moments, who was in the process of unlocking his door.

"Yep. Mikey Way," I said, "never really introduced myself earlier."

"Way...sounds familiar..." she said, furrowing her brow.

Bob had unlocked his door, stepping in and left me in the hall with Kate. "You might have heard of my brother, but I don't know if you're into that type of music."

"Hmm, try me. What's his name?" She leaned against the door frame, her door wide open. I looked in and saw a big TV turned on in the corner of the room, with a stack of either CD's or DVD's nearby.

"Gerard Way." I said, looking back at her.

"Oh yes, I've heard of him. You could say I 'worshipped' him for a while, listening to his music all the time. I was sad when that one guitarist, his name escapes me right now, left the band years ago.."

I smiled, "His name is Ray. I married him, and we started a family, which is why he left the band."

"I see." She smiled again, yawning. "Well, nice to meet you again, Mikey. We should talk sometime. Oh, by the way, I'm Katelyn Sharmpell." She gave a small wave, before turning back into her apartment, shutting her door behind her.

Bob showed appeared in his door way again. "So, shall we go look for your hotel so you can check out?" he asked.

"C-check out? What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"You think I'm gonna let you spend all sorts of money to sleep in a hotel when you can sleep on my couch for free? Unless of course you want to waste all that money and sleep there instead of my place."

"Oh.." I said, stepping aside, letting Bob out of his apartment. "Why did we come here then if we're just leaving?" I asked as we left the building once more.

"I don't know. Now, let's go find your hotel, shall we?"

"Yes we shall."

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After wandering around a bit, I found my hotel. The same girl who had got me the hotel room yesterday was there. I stepped up to the desk.

"Uhm, yes, I would like to check out." I said, handing her my room key.

She took the key from my hand, and I turned to see Bob looking at a fake plant, touching the leaves.

"Was there something wrong with the room?" she asked, drawing my attention back to her.

"No, it was fine. I just found a new place to sleep, since I don't have much money, it'd get too expensive sleeping here." I said.

"Oh..." she said. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, and she took money from my slowly emptying wallet. "Well, Mr. Way, have a nice night and enjoy your time in New York City, even if it is not here." She gave a last smile before turning away from me. I walked back to Bob, who was staring at the fake plant.

"Do you think that plant will kill you or something?"

"Pfft, no." Bob said. We left the hotel, walking back to Bob's in the darkened sky and the streets lit, Christmas lights decorating houses and buildings along the way.

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Bob and I walked into his apartment, and I saw his cat sitting on the couch. I meet eyes with her, and she looks away and she jumps down to greet Bob. He lifts the cat up, scratching her ears. "Ally, Mikey is a friend. Don't kill him."

"Yeah, because she'll listen to you," I say, taking my shoes off and sitting on the couch, making myself comfortable, glad that my feet were free of my shoes after all the walking I've done.

"Has she tried to kill you? No. She just seems to avoid you. She's actually tried to kill someone. Maul her face off, seems more like it, actually. Brought a girlfriend over once and Ally just attacked her. Broke up with me then and there."

"Sorry to hear that, Bobert," I say that.

"Eh, that girl was a bitch anyways," Bob said, "I'll get you some blankets."

"Okay, sounds good." I yawned, rubbing my eyes, my tiredness finally hitting me. Ally, who Bob set down, came to sit on the couch next to me. I looked at her, trying to send a death glare. "Move," I said, poking her. She hissed at me, and I drew back, scooting away from her. I swear that cat was smiling.

"Here," Bob said, throwing a blanket and pillow at me. "You see the kitchen, get whatever you need. Don't touch my beer though, I'll kill you. I'll be in my room. If Ally tries to kill you or something, just yell, I'll wake up eventually. Night, Mikey. It's good to see you again."

"Night Bob, thanks for letting me stay here," I said, and Bob disappeared down the hall, leaving me with Ally. "Move, dammit," I said, poking her again, and this time she did move. I stuck my tongue out at the cat who made her way to her cat bed across the room from me, and I layed down, claiming the couch as mine.

I closed my eyes, sleeping washing over me quickly.